Radiant Mobius: A prequel to Twilight Mobius
by Orumon
Summary: Millenia before the fall of the birth of Sonic a technologically advanced race of echidnas unlocked the secrets of chaos energy, removing any worries of energy crisis. But is chaos controllable? And what is the price if they fail to do so?
1. Chapter One: Pachamac

_Gerald's Notes:_

_As close as I can determine, the chaos emerald isn't an emerald at all. It's a complex energy reactor that draws fuel from a source I have yet to determine. King Max once said that the emerald fell to earth and caused mutation within their society for generations until the gem was sealed away within what are now the vaults deep within the palace. Even so there were minute traces of chaos radiation on the surface of Mobotropolis, but not enough to cause major mutations._

_Whoever made the chaos emerald had a far better understanding of chaos energy than any other culture currently alive, though, and I would very much like to track down any survivors._

_End Note._

The brown echidna gazed up, gauging the council before him. Standing in the retinue of the science oligarch was a red echidna who he had once taught. The rest of Oligarch Ventreles' retinue were composed of people he regarded as political enemies. It wasn't a big secret that Ventreles was an old rival of Pachamac who had built his reputation of chaos energy, whereas Pachamac had built his on challenging past ideas with an unquenchable determination. Pachamac despised his pale brown rival with a passion, feeling that the old echidna was too complacent in the theories of the old masters. He was grateful that the Oligarch couldn't interrupt without good cause, now, since what he had to say may be critical.

"The council recognizes the scientist, Pachamac." He stepped forward as the High Oligarch Mazral announced him. Pachamac knew as much as most echidnas about Mazral, for she had been High Oligarch for fifteen years. Her rule had been unbiased, which was good and bad as far as anyone was concerned. Her position was closest to the floor, with her viewing platform not far from the centre where the speakers appealed. Higher levels had platforms for the varying Oligarchs and their retinues. As he strode into the centre Pachamac was forcefully reminded of the original purpose of this theatre. He felt like the ancient echidna gladiators that had once fought all manner of beasts in the central pit of the chamber. He wondered idly how the gladiators would have fared if they had to fight the crowds up on3 the view platforms instead of the monsters.

Right then and there he would have preferred the monsters.

The brown echidna cleared his throat and began, "I'm sure you all know that I've been looking into chaos energy for the past few years." Many of the Oligarchs nodded, while Ventreles glared down with undisguised hatred. "I've been tracking the radioactive energies from our chaos reactors and found that any radiation that does escape is too minimal to cause mutation in our species." Many of the echidnas above him looked relieved, with Ventreles apparent fury dissipating into surprise.

Oligarch Mazral interrupted, "That's wonderful news, but you wouldn't need to come here to inform us that your initial worries were baseless." Her voice conveyed her impatience.

The Brown echidna bowed his head before continuing: "Yes, councillor. As I said, there is little possibility of mutation in us, but I found that when several chaos reactors were active in a region they caused lower life forms to evolve at a startling rate, and also cause single celled organisms to breed at an alarming rate." Many within the council chamber were alarmed at this revelation, and even the scientific Oligarch looked surprised for a fraction of a second until he realised the implications of what this meant for the chaos reactor technology.

Falken the Oligarch from the guild of merchants interrupted: "So you're implying that new diseases will simply emerge because of the reactors?"

Pachamac removed a data stick from his glove and activated it stating, "I'm not implying it. I am proving it. And with respect Oligarch, I don't think you comprehend the scale of the problem. Because of its properties of accelerating evolution, it may be that we won't just be fighting diseases, but entirely new species, soon." Pachamac directed a challenging stare at Ventreles, who returned it steadily.

"What are you suggesting we do, besides spending more money on medical advances?"

Pachamac was caught off guard by the sudden submission of his arch rival. "I suggest that we delay the installation of the chaos reactors as our main power sources until we can devise a means of controlling them better."

"No!" Came the shout from the Oligarch of Labourers, a dark red female named Kliae. "Those reactors will allow us to cheaper energy, without it families in the lower classes will be kept poor due to the prices of other energy forms."

"They would still be alive, though, which is not what'll happen in the worst case scenario." Pachamac retorted hotly, disappointed by the selfish lack of foresight from the politician. "What if something we cannot deal with is created? What if something smarter than us emerges?"

"Smarter than us?" Ventreles exclaimed, amusement clear on his face. "Listen, scientist, we don't need another doomsday prophet here, we get too many of them for us to waste time on-"

"SILENCE!" Roared Mazral: her powerful voice resounding throughout the chamber. "Ventreles, you will not attempt to impugn the supplicant." She then turned to Pachamac, "Scientist, you must understand that it isn't possible for us to delay the installation and activation of the chaos reactors. The benefits are simply too great, whereas the risks are minimal by comparison."

Pachamac hung his head, utterly disappointed with the council. Mazral continued on, "However, your argument of devising a better means of control has merits and you shall be given the resources necessary to create a device for the task."

Pachamac raised his head to see Ventreles interrupt yet again: "But, High Oligarch, we can't simply let this echidna head the research, he's never developed anything in his life!" Pachamac felt a barely contained fury at this, because it was back during their early years that both he and Ventreles had discovered the initial chaos energies. Although Pachamac was also credited with the discovery, it was Ventreles who developed the green crystalline containment system. Pachamac, by contrast, used the discovery of chaos energy to challenge previous theories of the universe.

"With respect, I am quite content to share the development of this device with the Scientific Oligarch" Pachamac heard a voice speak but didn't realise it was his own until he saw Ventreles head turn to him as though it had been dragged. Although Pachamac was gratified by the look of utter shock on his pale furred rivals face, he wondered why he said it in the first place.

Mazral spoke up as Ventreles opened his mouth to shout back. "Thank you scientist, you're free to leave."

The brown echidna bowed again and left, walking quickly as he heard heated voices behind him.

***********

The brown echidna was surprised to see his golden orange furred daughter sitting on a bench in the massive park that surrounded the council palace. His daughter was dressed in a short jacket and figure hugging skirt with strapped sandals. Pachamac saw the expectant look on her face and decided to go over to see her.

"Hello Tikal!" The girls head swiftly turned, irritation written clearly on her face. Obviously, she hadn't been waiting for him, but it was too late to back out now. "So, are YOU going to try and talk the science Oligarch into supporting your studies?"

The female echidna bristled at the reference to her own subject. Tikal had been researching the possibilities of psychic phenomenon for several months, a practice her father routinely derided as childish and superstitious.

"Better than saying we're all going to die in front of the council, don't you think?" An annoying trait of Tikal's was one she had inherited from her father, the one that made her retort with petty one liners. "Now, go away, old one! I'm waiting for someone." Tikal then directed her gaze behind him to the council palace once more.

Pachamac followed her gaze, once again noting that, although the palace that had once been an ancient coliseum, it had been so built up that it now resembled a misshapen block of white rock as new sections were continually added as bureaucratic needs required. Although the parks surrounding it were still extensive they had been dramatically consumed by the building that had been growing since before even he was born.

Caught up in the memory as he was, he failed to notice Tikal walking past him to greet a red echidna who looked surprisingly familiar. With a shock he recognised Khalac, his old student, and Pachamac saw him chatting away happily with Tikal, standing too close for comfort (both within his field of vision was too close). He was about to interrupt when he heard a deafening roar from another familiar voice, although this one was distinctly less welcome.

"What do you think you're playing at you old maniac?" The old echidna Ventreles, startling Pachamac with his vehemence, along with everyone else in the immediate area. "You can't just go around me like that and ignore the hierarchy of our society!" Ventreles looked furious, not surprising given Pachamac had humiliated him in front of the council, not only gaining support for a part of his project, but also placing himself on equal footing with his old rival again.

"I'm sorry! I thought that I'd graciously decided to share the credit from such a critical project." Pachamac replied calmly, his voice smugly satisfied. The pale echidna's muzzle began to turn red with rage and he began to draw himself up for a loud reply before he was interrupted by a young female voice.

"Excuse me, Oligarch, I've been meaning to ask you if you could allow me support for my own researches." Pachamac goggled as his daughter interrupted a perfectly good argument. Ventreles seemed to partially deflate with the shock as he turned to face the eighteen year old echidna that had caught him off balance.

"What exactly are you looking into?" Ventreles asked without thinking.

"Psionics!" was the terse reply.

The older echidna stared at her for a few seconds, seemed like he was about to laugh, then glanced at Pachamac. Returning his gaze to Tikal he said "Of course, contact my assistant, Khalac, later with details on funding requirements and specific details." The Oligarch of sciences then turned to face the shocked echidna.

"You see, Pachamac? That is the appropriate respect for hierarchy that you seem to lack!" Pachamac barely heard Ventreles' words as his daughter strutted off towards the young male who had watched the whole exchange with undisguised amusement.

What just happened? He thought.

_Well, there it is. Chapter One of Radiant Mobius. No violent opening like Twilight sadly, but give it time._


	2. Chapter Two: The Seer

Gerald's notes:

_We tracked the residual chaos energies along its entry route. The gem seems to have been launched up from a point above the middle of the echidna ocean. In mid-air there seems to be a massive aura of chaos energy. This energy is completely spent, but left traces behind. While searching below the ocean surface for a potential source of the energy we found a mobian sized robot. It seems to be bipedal, encased in a virtually impenetrable metal and its data ports aren't compatible with any present day technology._

Months later

The Yelethi had recently emerged into sentience, and they were desperate to understand the situation. They had discovered the lands they were born on had been inhabited by echidnas for longer than their species had been alive and that they relied on chaos energy to power their sorcerous cities. Upon discovering through divine magics that their cities contained sources of magical energy, their leaders were intent on procuring one of these.

One of their species, a small creature with a very ugly mottled green carapace, long snout and hunched back, was attempting to infiltrate a small echidna village during the night. Kruquick was gifted at this, since he had the knack for seeing things before they happened, a talent nobody else, even the mystics of his own people, shared.

He squeezed between two buildings that represented his favourite backdoor into the market, his blue eyes wincing as he had to push his numerous long tails into a vertical flat pattern. As he progressed, he began to hear the voices of the inhabitants of the town. Sometimes, the young creature fancied that he could understand their language when he tried, but right now he was far too focussed on getting to the source of magical energies that the chieftain had demanded.

As he eagerly neared the opening out of the alley way he was briefly blessed with a flash of events that he couldn't see; two echidnas were walking past with a common serving robot behind them. The Kruquick slowed and waited for them to pass, then rushed out the alley and across the empty street, quickly finding a new hiding place. Kruquick froze when he heard the sudden whirring of the robot, and then peered out to see the machine gazing back down the street. It was no bigger than an echidna male, and its dextrous hands holding too overfull bags filled with food. The machine was covered in a dull yellow casing with blue glass optics and Kruquick felt like it was gazing directly at where he was.

One of the echidnas then shouted "Gizoid!" and the machine then turned around and began to run after its masters, its legs carrying it swiftly and with unnerving grace. Kruquick breathed a sigh of relief and then turned back to where he felt the most intense source of chaos energy.

***********

In the capitol:

Pachamac glance briefly at the picture of his daughter playing with their new pet, Chocola. Chocola's species, the chao, had emerged recently, and despite their utterly benign nature had given the chaos controller project the extra push from theoretical to practical testing. The brown echidna turned away from the image on the desk, looking back to the reactor room where the first miniscule control gem was being tested. Standing beside him, gazing at the display was Ventreles; his eyes alight with anticipation, although whether it was for the test or for the failure of his designs, Pachamac couldn't tell.

The room was devoid of anyone else, its walls coated in the black crystals that absorbed most of the energy released by the reactors. In the centre of the room floated a single green gem the size of a fist, the chaos reactor. Wires reached up to the floating crystal, manipulating its state: Either active, overcharged or dormant. Kept in an active state it was hostile to the lesser Mobian, as it would cause their bodies to mutate horribly right away. If the project didn't work of course both he and Ventreles would have to vacate the room immediately.

Somewhat nearer to them was a smaller gem, also green but narrower and the size of a pencil. It was almost obscured by the mass of wires connecting it to the computers they had in the chamber.

Pachamac turned to his onetime friend and nodded, signalling the experiment to begin. The council had been reluctant to cut the chaos reactor from the grid, switching a quarter of the city to a different emerald source. Only quick talking and the emergence of several new species across the continent had convinced the more stubborn councillors to go along with it. Even so, they were on a tight schedule.

Ventreles turned without saying a word and activated the control gem, configuring it to nullify the reactors power. The control gem glowed briefly then darkened. Pachamac frowned as the gem did so, his expression mirrored by Ventreles who was still gazing at the screen. Suddenly the entire room went dark as the green glow of the crystalline reactor completely disappeared. The only things light sources were the computers displays and the green control crystal. There was a dull hissing noise coming from the wires around the control gem but aside from that the room was silent.

The two old echidnas fought to check the display of the computer, which indicated that the emerald reactor had indeed been completely drained of its reserves, and was currently in a dormant state. Upon seeing this Pachamac turned to look at his friend, a massive smile cutting across his face like a yellow gash in his muzzle. His smile slid slightly when he saw that Ventreles was still looking at the screen with a frown.

"What's wrong?" Pachamac asked, his elation so high that he was completely shocked what his pale co-efficient pointed to the temperature gauge in the corner of the display.

The control crystal couldn't simply eliminate the energy, so it converted it into an impressive amount of heat energy. The display then indicated a cut connection as the wires around the green crystal melted fully, their casings making the smell of burnt plastic.

**********

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent.

Krunquick skittered along the concrete floor of the largest building in the echidna's city. The noise from the alarms deafened him and prevented him from seeing the future. And echidna turned the corner. Since Krunquick didn't know any other way out he simply ran faster, barrelling into the red echidna with yellow shoulder pads. The guard only got enough time for a startled cry before behind elbowed out of the way and falling down.

Krunquick heard the guard calling to his friends in the language of his people, but only understood a few words. It was enough to make him run even faster.

This turned out to be a mistake because he ran straight into a corridor filled with angry echidnas, all wearing similar shoulder pads to the one before. The yeleth turned to find the officer he had previously shoved aside blocking his retreat.

"Get him." The first echidna said (whatever that meant). Krunquick discovered what was meant when he felt five echidnas tackle him and wrestle him to the ground. He felt the emerald that was the source of the chaos energy taken from him.

He cried out and began to struggle with all his might, but he was held tight. If he didn't have the chaos emerald he couldn't return; the chieftain would kill him for his failure. While he was struggling one of the echidnas was talking into a plastic cube small enough to fit in his hand. Suddenly the alarms went off and the leader barked three terse words at the five holding him.

Krunquick learned immediately that the words meant, "Shut. Him. Up.", when he felt a fist driving into his side, knocking the wind out of him. The yeleth was dragged to his feet, gasping for air, by two of the guards who had held him down. The other three remained out of sight, but Krunquick could feel their eyes like someone was driving a burning knife into the back of his neck. The leader, the one who had been pushed aside earlier looked the yeleth up and down, but he couldn't tell what the red echidna was thinking. He felt a trill of fear as the officer said something to the others and they took him back down away. The leader remained where he stood for a few seconds before walking straight back to chamber where the emerald had been stored.

Krunquick was so focussed on attempting to escape that he was surprised when they arrived outside. He panicked and began to struggle wildly. Eventually one of the echidnas lost his grip, allowing the yeleth to punch the other holding him in the face, causing the guard to let go. Krunquick bolted, with furious echidnas in hot pursuit. The yeleth turned a corner and tripped over a bicycle some child had carelessly left in the middle of the footway, crashing to the floor in surprise. The yeleth was on his feet immediately but much of the lead he had gained from the guards had been lost.

***********

Meanwhile

"So all it does is shut down the emeralds." Said Pachamac, his face grim as he sat at a cafeteria table. The sky was dark, since the old echidnas had been obliged to conduct their test very late at night and it was now extremely early. The cafeteria was, obviously an all nighter, which was fortunate for the frustrated echidnas.

"Not quite, after all it DID convert the chaos energy with greater efficiency than our normal reactors do. It's just we need something that can have finer control over the controller." Pachamac bit down hard on his sandwich in response to Ventreles statement. "Of course, you could always sulk rather than find a solution."

Pachamac practically blew out his mouthful trying to retort. A moment later the dark brown echidna swallowed what was left of his bite and then said venomously; "Do you have any ideas? Mechanics don't work, the test today pretty much showed that!" The Oligarch knew that the old echidna was intensely disappointed, not just by the failure of the gem but by the fact that it was still too hot to even approach. "If only there was a way it could respond directly to our thoughts."

Ventreles looked sharply at his rival, a neuron suddenly making a connection. He rose with a delighted look on his face, eager at another opportunity to put more egg on the aged echidnas face. The pale brown echidna pulled a cell phone out of his lab coat.

"What's your daughter's number again?" Pachamac gave it to him with a startled look and watched as the Oligarch quickly dialled the number.

"What is it?" Came the young female's voice, blurred with sleep. Ventreles could detect a hint of frustration.

"Tikal? Ventreles here, I need to know if you've made any progress on that psionics project of yours." Ventreles noticed Pachamac open his mouth; probably to ask what the hell he was doing ringing, his daughter at three in the morning. He waved him silent and he heard another voice in the background. He heard Tikal tell the source of the voice to keep quiet, but Ventreles already knew who it was.

"Of course there's been progress! I've even managed to make a sort of psy-amplifier." Tikal's voice was clearly irritated now, "Couldn't you have asked this at a more reasonable time?"

Ventreles was elated; he hadn't expected Tikal to actually have made something that works.

"Can you make it work on crystalline structures, with fine control?"

There was a long pause, followed by whispering on the other side of the line. "Maybe, I don't know. Maybe if it could be set up to receive them..."

"Great! Get your stuff and get over here ten minutes ago, we're over at the place run by Plotac, you know the all night café? Oh and bring Khalac with you, don't leave him in bed like an overlarge teddy bear."

There was a long silence at the other side of the line, punctuated by muffled curses. Then the phone was cut off and Ventreles turned his attention back to the stunned looking echidna back at the table.

"What was that about?" The dark brown echidna asked

"Oh, I just needed to see if we could get the emerald to respond to our thoughts. That way we actually can have something that works. One controller might be enough for the entire continents!" Ventreles said in an excited tone. "I knew giving Tikal that grant for the psionics project was an excellent idea!"

Pachamac didn't look very impressed "Except you gave her that grant to spite me and I don't think you had any more faith in the project than I did."

Privately the paler echidna had to agree, but what he really said was, "Nonsense, I actually called to check if she could make something that works didn't I. I believed in her all along!"

His partner didn't look even remotely convinced, but let it go as he changed the subject. "What I was really asking about was Khalac: what is he doing with Tikal?"

"You mean aside from being in the girls bedroom at three in the morning? I don't know. I only just found out right now." Ventreles said in a blandly, noting the darker echidna's dreadlocks flaring, a clear sign of anger.

"Well, we'll just have to find out." Pachamac stated in a quiet, deadly tone.

_Okay, I replaced the chapters with the updated versions. Actually Pachamac's name is abbreviated in this storyline for my convenience._


	3. Chapter Three: Escaping into Slavery

Gerald's Notes:

_We discovered that the data ports were similar to an old technology used on earth. It took a few minutes to make a version of the appropriate connection. Once the device was connected our computer was overloaded with the vast data output. We learned that this device had been constructed by a race of echidnas that lived on about 1200 years ago. They were considerably more advanced than contemporary Mobians, and slightly more advanced than our own society in the era. Apparently the machine was only recently upgraded to a battle robot shortly prior to the disappearance of this advanced race. The machines memory banks confirmed the Mobian legend of Urachii, which was supposed to have disappeared about that time. Unfortunately, why it disappeared remains unknown._

_End Note_

Krunquick staggered slightly as he raced along the street of the town's suburbs. He'd lost two of the echidna police but two remained in pursuit. The continual exertion was draining him by now, since his nature had kept him from going out of his way to exercise. His legs ached fiercely, and his lungs felt like they would burst. Glancing behind him he saw the officers, who barely seemed to have exerted themselves.

"That's not fair!" said the yeleth between breaths. As he neared the corner of a building he had a brief vision and ducked, just as one of the old pursuers arrived with a metallic stick. The echidna directed the stick in the direction that Krunquick had just been standing a second ago. Two chords made out of a shiny metal shot out and impacted one of the officers. Suddenly the Yeleth saw a flash of light behind him and heard one of his pursuers screaming loudly. He heard the other officer behind him yell something but didn't care if he didn't get that stick he'd be finished.

Krunquick leapt at the echidna and grabbed the stick, swinging it around so the end was pointed at its owner, tearing out the cords in the process, which was followed by an abrupt end to the screaming. He then pulled the trigger, and was rewarded with a dull hiss.

No screams from the echidna beneath him, no flashes, no smell of cooking meat. The confused yeleth stared at the impotent metal stick, no comprehending why. The echidna he had pinned them smashed his fist into Krunquicks head, knocking him over and allowing the other officer to pin him to the ground next to a fence.

What happened next was the result of panicked desperation. He used his muscular tail to brace his entire body and scooped the echidna over his body and into the fence, slamming the unfortunate echidna with enough force to stun him. Krunquick rolled onto his feet and bolted with all his might, the remaining conscious echidna instantly giving chase.

Krunquick exhaustion allowed the echidna to catch him outside a house with a decorative fence with sharp prongs sticking out the top at waist height. The echidna grabbed the frightened creature, trying to pull him close enough to restrain until help arrived. Unfortunately, the yeleth struggled and shoved the echidna onto the prongs. The echidna was impaled twice in the belly, and began screaming in pain, causing Krunquick to panic and flee the town, all thought of the emerald forgotten, for now.

************

The Capitol:

Khalac rubbed his eyes, cursing the inconvenient timing of old people under his breath. He walked alongside Tikal, who looked similarly irritated at her sudden awakening less than an hour ago. Both of them were nearing the café when the two older echidnas walked out to greet them, Ventreles with a pleased expression on his face, Pachamac with a dark one.

Khalac was sure that his old mentor couldn't know about the things he and Tikal had been doing the night before, but the old echidna's face gave the impression that he knew everything. Not that he was worried, but Pachamac had warned him to stay away from her during the times he had been tutoring the red echidna.

Ventreles spoke first. "Ah, good, we were just going to see if you'd decided to join us. Come in." The pale echidna indicated the door to Plotac's before opening it and striding through. Tikal followed, then Khalac, with Pachamac bringing up the rear. "Now, Tikal, what do you make of this." Ventreles produced a green crystal fragment.

The golden brown female ran her leaned her head against her hand, covering one eye and giving the gem a cursory glance. "It's a piece of emerald." She replied shortly. Ventreles tossed it over to her, and she tried to catch it in her free hand. The sleepy echidna fumbled the catch but her arm prevented it from falling. Khalac saw her flinch, cursing, from it and only just managed to catch the gem as it fell. Even through his gloved hands it felt unpleasantly hot.

"What is that?!" Demanded Tikal

"It's the control system we devised, the heat you feel is the result of its reaction." Pachamac said with an acid tone as Khalac placed the gem on the table, while Tikal massaged her arm and called for water.

"Why make something you can't touch with you bare hands?" Khalac demanded.

"Oh, it's still warm from when it was used to nullify a chaos reactors charge." Ventreles replied blithely, Khalac gave the older echidna a look that spoke volumes and he was about to add to the look with words until Tikal interrupted him.

"You want this thing controlled by telepathy? It's just a tiny crystal with no brain, to do that we'd need to copy the complete neural pathways of an echidna."

Ventreles looked distraught, but Pachamac offered a solution: "It can be done, but you'd need to make it massive to accommodate all them." The dark brown echidna sighed "But it would take months to do, and it will require your project to be tied into ours."

Tikal suddenly stood up, her chair falling over from her sudden infuriated rise. "Are you kidding me?! You can't just steal my project out from under me!"

Ventreles looked at her with an almost pitying expression "Actually I can, but I'm not going to. Instead I want you to finish the technology and then let us use the first version on the control gem."

Tikal sat back down, the look of suspicion on her face swiftly turning into surprise as she sat back down of thin air. Nobody laughed as she hit the floor, as Ventreles' cell had begun to ring.

"Yes? What?! You're sure? Absolutely! I'll send someone, right away." Ventreles stowed his cell back in his lab coat and turned to the others. "Something's happened over at Medon; an unknown creature appeared in the chaos reactor facility and attempted to steal the reactor crystal itself." Khalac was completely surprised. He'd assumed that his old mentor's grim predictions wouldn't come true. The idea that sentient life could emerge because of chaos energy, a thought once laughable, was suddenly a reality. He looked around at the others and saw that Tikal had a similarly shocked expression. Ventreles literally looked like he'd seen a ghost and even Pachamac looked mildly surprised.

"So soon?" The old echidna asked lightly

Ventreles looked at him sharply "You expected this?" he demanded

"Yes, and I'm surprised you didn't!" Pachamac said in a contentious tone. "These new creatures are born of chaos so they're going to have a natural affinity for the stuff." The two older echidnas glared at each other until they were interrupted by Khalac.

"You said you were sending someone over?"

Ventreles broke the gaze of the dark brown echidna and turned to his assistant. "Yes, I need someone who knows something about this whole mess." He turned to Pachamac, who shrugged and nodded. "And we'll also need some way to communicate with them, so can you lend us the prototype?"

Khalac opened his mouth to acquiesce but was interrupted by Tikal. "No, I'm not letting it go to you." Khalac caught off guard, could only look at her with a helpless expression.

"But-" He started before Ventreles cut him off.

"Alright, you can go too." The Oligarch said quellingly. "After all, it makes sense that we use the 'expert' in her field of specialty." Khalac noticed how Tikal's eyes narrowed at the twist Ventreles had put on the word expert, but was grateful that she didn't respond verbally.

*************

The Yeleth town

As Krunquick returned to the village he noticed hundred of new faces. He also noted that many of his kind had aged visibly. This wasn't something that surprised him. His kind lived for only a few months and he had no doubt that he looked significantly different from when he was last home. The fact that those who had known him were staring at him would have irked him if he hadn't been so frightened of what was about to happen.

He considered hiding or running, but discarded the idea. If he hid he'd be found. If he ran then he'd be caught. Instead he hoped that what he had discovered would be enough to appease the leader of the Yelethi. As he approached the ramshackle construct that was the palace, he developed a fresh appreciation for the spontaneous style of the Yelethi people. The lines of Echidna homes were too straight and rigid, unlike the chaotic directions of his home town.

Any positive feelings dissipated when he got inside the 'palace'. His dread mounted as he marched up on the master's quarters and saw the pale green figure that was the aged leader or the Yelethi. Krunquick was surprised that the old creature could still move. It was at least three months old, an extremely long time as Yeleth measured their lives. The room was filled with the chieftains numerous children and mates. The room itself was a dark room constructed of wood within what was little more that a large shack.

"So you've returned." Krunquick jumped at hearing the voice of the master. He'd been half hoping his visions had been false and the creature had died of old age. Frantically, Krunquick attempted to analyse all possible paths of the future. Unfortunately he couldn't see one where he didn't die or was suffered horrible pain.

"You haven't aged a minute since you left." This caught the younger Yeleth off guard. He didn't notice any change in his body, but that should have been the clue, since his kind was very short lived. "Tell me, how did this happen?"

The tone implied a threat so Krunquick guessed. "I came into contact with the magical source you wanted me to acquire. It is an emerald with enormous energy."

"Excellent, give it to me." There was a long silence following this command

Krunquick trembled before saying "I don't have it. It was taken from me by the echidnas." There was a sharp cracking noise and Krunquick fell to the ground as bones in his legs shattered magically. The intense pain caused him to shriek before quickly saying "But I know where it is! It's within the largest building in the echidna city. Please, master, don't hurt me anymore."

The figure before him shifted slightly, looking directly at him with a look of disdain, its pale green carapace concealed beneath its all covering brown cloak. "You've failed, but you've given me enough information to secure immortality and enormous power, so I shall spare your life. Now get out!" The leader said in a chilling tone.

Krunquick struggled to drag himself painfully across the floor. One of the leader's children grabbed him by the arm and helped him out of the room, but not before he heard the leader say to one his other children "We should be able to seize the emerald ourselves. Prepare a team of younger Yelethi and send them take it by force."


	4. Chapter 4: Conflict

Gerald's notes:

_We've been able to determine that much of the machines information is taken up by centuries of watching the bottom of the ocean, and when we finally ran into significant data we wiped the empty centuries spent there from its memory. I have had very little time to continue my research on the robot, however, since a group of rebel mobians hacked our own records and stole weapons technology. After a short consultation with Jules, Ivo, Maria and the rest of the team from project shadow, I sent Shadow to deal with this problem. I didn't tell the others, but I'm more concerned with the information stolen pertaining to the robot, who's memory identifies it as Gizoid. If Maximillian discovered anything about this machine he would attempt to shut down this project forever._

Solachles lay down on the hospital bed, trying to relax despite the wounds where the fence had pierced him. Although anaesthetised, the gaping holes caused some degree of discomfort and he disliked the sensation of being numb in large areas of his dark brown furred body. The ward was empty, unsurprising given that it was a police ward and thus rarely occupied at all. Most officers preferred to remain with their families while they were ill and that was the way with the brown echidna would have preferred it too, but his wounds were too severe right now.

Suddenly there was the sound of a heated argument, and Solachles turned to see his chief, a red furred echidna of a muscular build named Knuckles, arguing with two other echidnas in what seemed at this distance to be white lab coats. Also hovering behind was them was a smaller albino echidna in a green outfit.

The older of the two scientists, a brown echidna of middle age, said something quietly, but in a tone so hard even the stupefied Solachles felt it. The chief of security didn't flinch, though, and glared at the scientist for several seconds before abruptly turning to leave the ward.

The chief turned to the echidna in a loose green uniform "Nurse, the oligarch's people wish to discuss the events last night with our officer in private." The nurse opened his mouth to object, the glanced fearfully at the two agents of the oligarch. He followed the larger echidna out at a very much faster pace.

As the two scientists turned to him, Solachles saw that the other one who had kept her back to him was a young female, with very pale brown fur. She looked young enough to be his daughter, so he assumed that this was the student of the older, stern faced, echidna. In her gloved hand she held a small case, which the young girl seemed to take great care to ensure that it didn't accidently hit anything.

The two strode over beside his bed. As they sat down the younger of the two scientists carefully placed the case on the floor and opened it. Although he didn't initially see what was inside, the female gingerly raised the fragile looking metallic headband up and onto her head.

"What's that for?" Solachles asked with a faint twinge of fear. The agents of oligarch Ventreles had a reputation for a cavalier approach to other organisations at times. The female didn't answer except with an expression of slight frustration. She then reached for the intravenous drip and adjusted it, although to what effect the officer didn't know.

After a few seconds silence the older of the two scientists piped up. "Don't mind her, she's just testing out a new invention that is still very early in development."

Solachles was less than reassured, but tried to hide it "Students, eh? They love to try out the new toys."

"Yes, she's particularly fond of this toy." The student shot a hard look at the older echidna, but he paid her no heed. "My name is Pachamac, by the way, and the 'student' is Tikal. I need to know what happened last night."

"Didn't you ask the others? I'm sure they were more than happy to tell you everything." Solachles said guardedly. He knew when he wasn't being told everything, and this was one of those occasions. He felt no reason to give everything to these people when they weren't telling the whole story.

"They have, but I also need your version." The brown echidna said with the same firm tone as before. Solachles knew that he had to tell them, and besides, his wounds had started to properly hurt again.

"Alright, the only real difference from any of the others stories is that they won't admit that it seemed to know what we were doing before we even moved. It dodged a shot that came up so sudden nobody had the time to figure out what was going on. That's when Kliffen got fried by Jalaha's taser." Solachles coughed and his injuries hurt worse than ever.

The older echidna leaned forward "So you think this creature had the ability to see past current events?" The tone in Pachamacs voice was one of intense curiosity bordering on hunger. The wounded officer found this alarming, particularly in his pained state.

"Like it could see the future? See what we were doing before we did?" Solachles paused as the pain became too intense for him to speak. The female broke what had been a constant gaze until then and fiddle with the IV again.

Solachles remained silent for a few seconds longer until the pain subsided again. "I don't know if it could see the future, maybe it could just see our minds, but whatever it did it made us all look like fools."

Pachamac sat silently for several seconds, his expression neutral. He then glanced over to Tikal, who nodded with a troubled expression. "Thank you for your assistance, officer Solachles. I hope you'll get well soon." The older echidna said sincerely, standing suddenly. The young female gently placed the headband back in its case before also rising gently.

Solachles leaned deeper into his bedclothes "No problem, happy to help." Although this sentiment wasn't echoed in his mind, which was glad to see the two white clad echidnas leave the ward.

*************

Pachamac was troubled. As he went out the ward he was startled by the formidable form of Knuckles and the nurse, both looking at him with expectant expressions.

"He's fine, but if you want to look in on him, go ahead." The older brown echidna said, carelessly.

Pachamac caught a suspicious look from the red furred police chief before he turned his back on him and walked on. After he'd strode a beyond reasonable earshot he glance back at Tikal.

"Did you get the image?" He asked.

Tikal had a similarly troubled expression. "Yes, and you were right, he did remember it clearly. The anaesthetics clouded his mind, though." The female echidna's face then grew more troubled. Pachamac missed this, having already turned his face back to the hallway ahead.

"Yes, but you dealt with that on the spot, very efficient." He said with a small degree of pride.

"I live for your approval." The young girl replied in a sarcastic tone.

"You've got to let go of those regrets, Tikal. They can cost more lives than they save. The essence of doing the right thing is cold and hard more often than it's warm and fuzzy."

"Spare me. What's got you so wound up anyway?" The girl said irritably

Pachamac gritted his teeth and recovered quickly "I'm worried about the creature. What if the entire species can foresee events like this one?" The old echidna shuddered at the thought "If it's drawn to the chaos reactors, how long can we hold them against such a species."

"You worry too much, father, no species can compete with us." The female said complacently.

"Pachamac!" The brown echidna looked behind them to see Knuckles running full pelt after them. Pachamac sighed then turned to face the seemingly incandescent red echidna.

"What is it, officer?" He said in a calm, almost contemptuous tone that did nothing to mollify the furious chief of police before him.

"What is it?!" Knuckles roared, skidding to a halt almost nose to nose with the older echidna. "You have the gall to ask me that after you torture one of my officers?"

"Contrary to your opinion we did not torture him, we merely removed certain chemicals in him that were clouding his mind."

Knuckles left eye began to twitch furiously as he half shouted "Chemicals? That echidna was anaesthetised for a good reason! Did you see the wounds, you heartless monster? What were you doing, anyway? Reading his mind?" Pachamac sensed that the last question was meant to be rhetorical, so he enjoyed it when the red echidna's eyes widened with surprise when Tikal interjected:

"Yes, that is exactly what we were doing."

There was a long pause, with Knuckles staring at the golden furred female with an incredulous expression before his expression hardened.

"That's not funny, 'girl'. Now tell me what was so important for you to cause my officer pain or I'll give you a share of his experience." The red furred officer raised his gloved fist, up in front of Pachamac's face in an obvious threat.

"She wasn't joking." Pachamac said coldly, "We're testing a new device that does exactly what you said and more. We also needed to know exactly what the creature looked like and its capabilities. Some of the stories that your officers told us were very disturbing."

"What, you mean those silly things he said about it seeing the future? That's crazy talk, caused by the traumatic experience, something which you made worse, removing his painkillers." As Pachamac returned the red officers glare he almost began to admire the single-minded determination of this obstructive officer. Not quite enough to enjoy the diversion, however.

"Regardless of your wishes we have to get back and get our reports to the oligarch. You can always complain to him if you-" Pachamac's sentence was cut short by a thunderous detonation somewhere in the city.

All three echidna's raced into one of the wards, running to the window facing the power plant. Pachamac's heart sank as he saw smoke rising from the eastern side of the plant and although he couldn't see the actual centre of the explosion because of the cityscape, he could imagine the scene there.

"I seriously hope you're wrong, father." Tikal said grimly from his left. Idly, Pachamac wondered if she could read minds without the telepathy device.

*************

It had been almost laughably easy for the Yelethi to sneak their vanguard into the city undetected. Despite Krunquick's visit last night, the echidnas had not placed any defences around the city itself.

Krunquick's heart sank as his master hurled a second fireball into the reactor complex, the concentrated flame exploding deafeningly inside the building. One more and any defences wouldn't matter.

As per his orders, Krunquick searched the future for any possible path that would lead to failure. When he was this close to the emerald, however, the master's powers were dramatically increased, along with Krunquick's precognitive abilities.

He felt the master's mind briefly touch him, checking his findings, then breathed a sigh of relief as his lords mind left him, apparently satisfied with the results.

Suddenly, he felt a very foreign presence, associated with an image of a golden brown female echidna with blue eyes, dressed in a white lab coat and wearing a metallic band across her head. The confused Yeleth stood up, wincing in pain as his poorly healed legs caused him to lean on his newly acquired walking stick.

"Don't panic," Came the voice in his mind, female, and too youthful to ever be the masters "We need to know, who you are and what you want."

"We are the Yelethi and we've come for the chaos emerald." Krunquick replied out loud, causing the master and several surrounding Yelethi to stare in his direction.

"Chaos what?" The tone of the thought was startled, but later became one of amusement "Emerald? Those aren't emeralds, they're reactors!"

"Well I-" His reply was cut off by a quick thought from the master as the lord sent a blistering psychic attack through Krunquicks mind, stunning him and causing the other presence to scream with pain and flee.

_Well that's that. I know a lot of people will view the actions of this version of Tikal to be sacrilege against the canon version of her, but bear with me, it's all in the name of plot._


	5. Chapter 5: 'Diplomacy'

_Geralds notes:_

_Shadow has returned from his mission, so I'll be able to get back to my own project, the Gizoid. Speaking of Shadow, he was unimpressed by the robot. Apparently his current moral dilemma is troubling him and destroying his curiosity._

_On another note; we learned that the Gizoid was only recently refitted for combat prior to its imprisonment at the bottom of the ocean. Apparently it was hastily refitted for combat against a sudden threat which has untraceably disappeared since then. These hostiles resembled the king's adviser, the Oracle of Delphius, although they stood more erect than the crooked creature on the council. I wonder if there is a connection. I will discretely investigate._

_End Note_

The girl screamed; throwing back her head as blood spitted out of her mouth and nose. Although initially startled, Knuckles did nothing as the young echidna sagged to the floor, moaning. The old echidna, who had recently been revealed as her father, quickly knelt down beside her and took off the device Tikal had donned a few minutes earlier.

"This is all very dramatic, but if that thing does work did you get me anything useful?" Knuckles demanded coldly.

Pachamac glared at him "How can you be so callous? This is my daughter you-!"

"You can't judge me about that, old one, not today, not ever, if I can help it." Knuckles interrupted loudly. He then reached down and pulled the older echidna up until they were nose to nose. "I need to know now what these things are and what they want. I don't need to hurt anyone but I don't need to help them either. This is MY city, and I will protect it and my officers any way I can!"

The two males glared at each other until a weak voice said "They call themselves the Yeleth and they've," Tikal interrupted her sentence to go into a brief coughing fit. As she got up there were spots of blood on the floor. "They have come to steal the chaos reactor." Pachamac's mouth dropped at this statement, while Knuckles' own mind turned to stone.

"That's. Not. Good." Was all he could say, literally paralysed by surprise, his hands still gripping Pachamac's lab coat.

"Really? I never would have guessed. Look, let go of me." Knuckles complied without thinking, the brown echidna smoothed his coat "Those reactors are ours, and we don't know what those creatures, the Yeleths, or whatever they are going to do with them."

"It's not like they can use them to do anything dangerous." Knuckles said. It's not that Knuckles didn't know anything about the crystalline reactors, just that his understanding of them was somewhat vague.

"Oh, so turning them into a bomb that causes dramatic mutation in everything within range isn't at all bad is it? Look, just get your officers together and then we'll get that reactor before they can. You can stay here since you obviously don't have any idea what I'm talking about."

Knuckles didn't like being ordered around, particularly by a person who treated him like an idiot. "No."

"No?"

"No. You can't come here, torture my echidnas, insult me and then confine me to a demeaning job, not in my own city." Knuckles said mulishly

Pachamac fixed him with a contemptuous look "Well, it won't be your city much longer if you keep up that attitude, and then these creatures will have the means to create a weapon this world has never seen."

Knuckles saw his point, however much he might despise the old echidna standing before him, the people of Medon were his priority, not his ego. He pulled out his mobile and said: "Officer Jalaha, get a van and grab as many people as you can on your way to the hospital, the older agent from the oligarchy will meet you there." The brown echidna might already think Knuckles was an idiot but it was common sense to arrange a means of getting there faster.

"Roger." Came a professional sounding voice.

Pachamac looked at him with a blank expression, before saying "Thank you, officer. Take care of my daughter."

Knuckles returned it frostily "I'll keep her alive." But don't expect me to ever give a damn about her welfare besides that, the furious red echidna thought as Pachamac turned and ran down to the main entrance.

*************

The assault was going well, Krunquick and all the Yelethi could sense the pervasive energies of the chaos emerald nearby. What little resistance there had been was crushed and there was only the small maze of corridors (which Krunquick knew the route) to penetrate now.

Krunquick then remembered to point out an essential detail "Be careful in the maze, if you aren't that place will consume minutes of your lives as you search." A dire thing for the short lived Yelethi.

The younger Yelethi charged the breach, uncaring of Krunquicks warnings. He supposed they had life to spare, so he relaxed as the older and more experienced Yelethi stood back.

Minutes passed, and the cries from within became elated, a good sign. Suddenly the cries of elation inside the building were mirrored by howls of horror, causing the Yelethi on the outside to turn suddenly to see a huge metallic box on wheels grinding a hole through the rear ranks at a frightening pace, growling all the way. Many amongst the Yelethi outside scrambled out of the way of the box as a group of the soldiers who had gone ahead returned, bearing the chaos emerald.

Unfortunately the creature seemed to be drawn to the chaos emerald just as much as Krunquick or the rest of his people were as the creature diverted its course and smashed its way straight for the victorious soldiers. The young Yeleth holding the stone could only watch as he and his squad were crushed by the machine.

After the machine had crushed the hapless squad it skidded to a halt, doors on its side and rear disgorging a group of heavily armed echidnas led by an older looking brown one. The leader (who Krunquick placed at about a month or so) quickly picked up the emerald, while yelling orders the clairvoyant Yeleth didn't fully understand.

"So it is not a monster, it's a machine. Amazing!" Krunquick said in awe, which was unfortunate for him, as his lord heard him and directed his gaze at him. Suddenly pain lanced through the seer, cut off instantly as the ancient creature hurled a fireball, while croaking:

"Surround them, get the emerald and ensure that they don't escape." The fireball crashed into the metallic block, detonating it and confusing the echidnas. The Yelethi then charged en masse, hoping to surprise the dazed adversaries before them.

It didn't work, for although the echidnas were surprised, they could still easily tell friend from foe, and they had weapons the Yelethi couldn't comprehend. They simply levelled and fired their devices that resembled the pain stick Krunquick had seen last night. The master's soldiers, young and old alike, were cut down by their adversary's superior weapons. As the casualties mounted the charge of the Yelethi faltered, the fear of their enemy beginning to outweigh their fear of the master's wrath.

Krunquick looked at his lord "Perhaps we should retreat and prepare anew." He pleaded.

The lord simply looked at him and waved his hand in the direction of the echidnas.

*************

All things considered things were going well. True, the transport was totalled, but the fortuitous timing of their arrival had prevented the loss of the chaos reactor, so Pachamac felt that he couldn't complain too much about the current situation.

Of course we're surrounded, but that is what guns are for. Pachamac thought gaily as he raised his own weapon and fired several bullets into the throng before them. He didn't really notice the creatures that fell, as there were so many enemies that any casualties were quickly swallowed up. Suddenly Pachamac felt a chill course through his body and the feeling felt its worst in his left hand, which held the chaos emerald. Glancing around he saw that the green creatures had somehow managed to get close enough to threaten them. With a cry of dismay echoed by many of the surviving echidnas, he opened fire on the close by creatures and mowed them down without mercy, the others doing so as well.

As the creatures fell the echidna's close range fire their forms began to appear transparent, superimposed over the body of a dead echidna. Then several of the remaining live echidnas were suddenly replaced by the forms of the creatures.

Pachamac suddenly felt furious, not just by the initial trick, but by the fact that whoever had attempted it thought it would work a second time. His feelings evidently shared by the squad, as many of the echidnas (either concealed by illusion or not) growled and audibly gritted their teeth before firing on the creatures outside the group.

"It's an illusion! Continue to fire on the main body of hostiles." Pachamac roared for the sake of those too slow to understand the situation yet.

The images faltered as the one casting them evidently realised the games was up, but the damage was already done. Half of the echidna's lay dead and the few that remained had spent precious ammo killing their teammates. The fury that Pachamac initially felt over the trick quickly drained into guilt, causing the brown echidna to slow his rate of fire and start to miss as he got too caught up in his feelings.

Then he and the rest of the squad noticed the creatures had stopped charging and simply stood there, waiting. The echidnas held their fire, anxiety over what was going to come next rising.

Slowly, a weak looking member of the creatures staggered out, occasionally moaning in pain as it walked with the aid of a stick. It hobbled until it reached the point that was exactly between the two armies. Now that Pachamac was able to take stock he wished the distance between the two forces was somewhat greater. The confidence he had felt evaporated now that he had time to evaluate the situation without firing a gun.

"That's the creature we caught last night." Came the incredulous voice of one of the echidna officers, Jalaha.

Pachamac felt sceptical "Are you sure? Didn't you say it could run pretty fast? Why would it need a walking stick?" He demanded

"I don't know, maybe they don't live very long." The dark echidna's voice sounded confused.

The creature pointed at Pachamac, then crooked its finger. Pachamac began to feel distinctly uneasy.

"I think he wants to talk, sir." Jalaha said warily.

"Yes, I think you're right." Said another echidna.

Pachamac's eyes narrowed "Thank you, I never would have guessed." He said sarcastically as he stepped forward.

The older echidna went out to meet the creature before him, halting about a metre away. The creature looked at him with an expression than looked like a grimace of disgust, but could have been an apologetic smile for all he knew.

"You, echidna..." The creature struggled to find a comparable word "Lord?"

"I am the leader of this group, yes." Pachamac replied. The creature processed this and got the essential word.

"We have won. You cannot win. Let us... take the chaos... emerald and will let you live." The creature spoke haltingly as it struggled to find the appropriate words of a language it didn't understand.

Pachamac was about to refuse when he suddenly wasn't on the battle field anymore but within a white place where the only person around was Tikal.

"What the hell?" Pachamac cried.

_Here's chapter five, picking up directly where chapter four leaves off. Next chapter, somebody will die. (There's a special NOT prize in it for the one who does.)_


	6. Chapter 6: Ruin

Chapter 6

_Gerald's notes:_

_The Gizoid's data banks yielded much information on its creators, the mobian echidnas. Firstly, they were considerably more advanced than present day mobian species, this information is supported by the fact that the Gizoid itself exists. Biologically they were similar to other mobian anthroforms, but they had life-spans comparable to twenty-first century humans and, given the time of record, were the dominant species on Mobius at the same time. It should also be noted that the gizoid's records show that the echidnas had a similar level of tolerance to chaos radiation as humans possess, leading me to conclude that life forms with longer lives have higher resistance to chaos energy. This theory is supported by the results of project Shadow, who is completely resistant to the mutating effects of chaos energy, despite the fact that we have yet to prove his immortality._

"What the hell?" Krunquick exclaimed as the echidna before him suddenly stopped moving, staring forward blankly. He walked right up in front of the echidna and waved his green hand in front of those blue eyes. He then turned and caught the eye of his lord, who still reclined in his palanquin calmly. The yeleth gestured for his to step back, so Krunquick complied without question.

'Do not worry, 'oracle', He is merely communicating with someone.' The voice of the master sounded in his head.

"Their leaders give the orders in the same fashion as you?" Krunquick said aloud, confused

'Apparently so, although why they'd allow a female to rule remains unknown.' The tone was tinged with contempt.

"What do I do?" The crippled yeleth asked warily

'Wait for him to awaken from this... stupor, then be prepared for his answer.' The lord's tone did little to reassure Krunquick much, the lack of detail triggering a series of grim premonitions.

*************

"What are you doing, Tikal?" Pachamac howled, his voice echoing in the fog. The shock, along with the frustration had transformed into an implacable rage. The colour of the fog began to colour a deep, crimson red, contrasting to the cool gray of the fog in the immediate vicinity of Tikal's form. "Answer me!"

"I can't let you do this father." The girl said, shaking her head. Pachamac should have noticed the urgency in her voice, a trait she had inherited from him, but his desire to return to the battlefield prevented him from recognising her desperation.

"Get out of my way!" The aged brown echidna snarled

"No way!" She said firmly

"Did you hear what I said?" It wasn't a question

"I won't obey." His daughter said, as if she ever had for the past few years, the thought flickered through Pachamac's mind, partially calming him down.

"We need the emeralds to keep our world powered. It's power for the people; and they are YOUR people too you know." He said, his fury barely restrained "We must keep this emerald."

The statement of the painfully obvious apparently irritated Tikal, enough to make her justify her decision "Greed is our enemy. If you hold on to that emerald as though it's all you have you will always want more." She said it as if she knew something, which made him slightly curious.

However, her childish argument merely refuelled his frustration and elicited the response "I won't listen to the words of a child."

*************

Suddenly, with an enormous wrench of will her father shrugged off her psychic shackles, leaving her helpless, only able to watch as the old echidna raised his weapon. This was the end that she had seen a flicker of in the mind of Krunquick shortly before her contact had been terminated.

The gun fired, but missed at the crippled creature dove and thrust a dagger it had concealed within the confines of its cloak into the chest of the brown echidna.

"Father!" The echidna girl shrieked silently as Pachamac fell slowly. Being currently psychic she felt his death occur, even as she watched on and saw the creatures called the Yeleth surge forward to finish off the remaining echidna officers.

The image was broken as she felt her body being shaken violently by firm hands. She opened her real eyes and saw the alarmed gaze of Knuckles.

"Finally." The officer said, relieved, "I was worried, you looked like you were having a seizure."

"Doesn't matter, they lost." Tikal said, sadly. Although she and her father rarely saw things eye to eye, he'd always been there, solid and dependable. Of course the old echidna was usually solidly in the way, but still "We're going to have to evacuate the city, there's nothing we can do here." Her tone was unbearably grim

"Excuse me? This city still has some juice left, and this is MY city. I'm not going to abandon it to some alien threat simply because we don't have our chaos reactor."

His complaints caused Tikal's mind crystallised halt. She thought of the possibilities of what the 'master' Krunquick mentioned could do with the chaos reactor. The thought made her go cold all over and broke her reverie.

"It will be your grave, officer, and the grave of every other citizen if you don't get everyone out of here now." She said harshly, but with the faintest hint of fear. She took off the psychic device and replaced it within its case. As she rose to face the red echidna she saw him swelling up to deliver a thunderous tirade. "My call, chief officer Knuckles, these things were made by chaos energy and we've never figured out all the ways it can be used."

This pulled much of the wind out of the violet eyed echidna's sails, the surprise making him stare at her for a few seconds.

"You... That is... I..." He then got a grip and hastily grabbed his communicator. "This is Knuckles, We need to evacuate the city... Yes, that's right, the whole city... NOW, officer Locas!" He then replaced his communicator within his gloves fold. "I hope you aren't overestimating the threat, girl."

"No danger there, officer." Tikal said under her breath as she grabbed her case and hurried towards the door with the chief police officer in tow.

*************

Krunquick struggled to make his way through the crowd of Yeleth soldiers running in the opposite direction, the emerald clutched in his hand. He felt sad that the old echidna creature had decided to do things the hard way, but he didn't believe for a moment that his master would have honoured his word. Just as he thought this he found the path between him and the lord unwholesomely clear. The crippled Yeleth caught the gaze of the master, and it was clear his lord knew exactly what his thoughts had just been.

The terrified Yeleth hurried over to his master, all thoughts of his masters probably treachery forgotten. All the way Krunquick felt those terrible eyes upon him, almost as though his lord was contemplating what punishment to inflict upon him.

Whatever punishment was forthcoming, however, was immediately forgotten when Krunquick neared with the emerald in hand. The tone of the masters thoughts changed and Krunquick looked up to see his lord's eyes staring hungrily at the gem. For a fleeting moment, the younger Yeleth wanted to run and hide the emerald so his master may never find it, but this was a brief fancy, something that ignored the logic of the current situation.

Whatever horrors happen to the world won't happen to me so long as I remain loyal to him. Krunquick decided as he placed the emerald in the hands of his master, Emperor Ko-Dorr of the Yeleth.

*************

"At last!" Ko-dorr's voice hissed as he grasped the glowing crystal within his withered hand. The ruler of the Yelethi felt the vitality of youth that had been absent from his body for weeks flooding through his body.

He rose, still diminuitive compared to the younger yeleth, Krunquick, who was hunched over him like a concerned parent. Despite the comical appearance of the ancient Yeleth, his subservient seer backed away, trembling.

Ko-dorr idly toyed with the idea of testing some of the emeralds abilities to enhance magic on Krunquick, but discarded it as he decided he may need the cowardly creature's precognition someday. Krunquicks disloyal mind could be dealt with anytime, and the construction of a capital would require slaves. At this thought Ko-dorr reached out with his emerald empowered psychic abilities and felt around for the mind of the female who had attempted to disrupt his schemes.

Unfortunately, the reach had only been increased to a few miles and if she had been within range she wasn't anymore. Ko-dorr howled with frustration, causing the triumphant Yeleth soldiers to turn to see their lord, standing proudly (for something that was two feet and three inches tall) before his minions.

Their attention caught his and he watched as they followed the seer in prostrating themselves before him. Several hundred creatures with green carapaces, knelt, face down, in the middle of a cul-de-sac ending in a huge building with a very large smoking hole in it, wearing only shoulder pads coloured with their family allegiance. Briefly, Ko-dorr was struck by the comical nature of the scene and smiled, catching his amusement before he laughed out loud.

"Rejoice yelethi, my soldiers, for here will be our city, from which I will build an empire that will soon control the whole world. These echidnas that have created my wonderful crystal shall have the honour of being our slaves forever!" As he said the last sentence he reached out and collared the minds of whatever echidnas were within reach, forcing them to come to him without fighting back.

As the Yelethi cheered several echidnas wandered towards them, helpless, as the newborn race taunted them and bound them in chains.

*************

"We've lost contact with the inner city." Knuckles said grimly. He looked at the girl who had told him to abandon his home without any hesitation. "There were still people back there."

Tikal piped up "They're probably under control of that psychic I encountered." She sighed, somewhat insincerely from Knuckles perspective. " There's nothing we can do for them."

Knuckles stomped loudly around the spacious luxury cabin of the plane. It wasn't just the frustration of being locked up with someone who he really felt like hurting, but helplessness that made him restless.

"I'm going to check up on the passengers." Knuckles said, striding out without waiting for a reply.

The rest of the plane couldn't be more different, packed with echidnas of varying ages and class. For such a segregated culture they didn't have problems with others of their species, although it did frustrate knuckles that the crowding made it hard for him to get down the central corridor.

"Sorry." Knuckles said as he collided with someone. This turned out to be a simple Gizoid servant robot, so the apology fell on deaf ears as the machine compensated for the impact and remained where it was. Knuckles turned away before a neuron fired and he looked back startled.

"Umm, sir, why are you looking at our Gizoid like that?" A small echidna child said, his mother attempting to hush him.

"That Gizoid, can I bring it with me for a few minutes? I have an idea and I need it." Knuckles said. The idea was a simple one, but the simple ones were always best. "I also think it would be good for you to come with me."

The child's mother, a very dark, almost black furred echidna looked at his badge, nodded and followed the muscular red echidna as he made his (slow) way back to the luxury cabin.


	7. Chapter 7: Coercion

_Gerald's notes:_

_Whatever tragedy befell the echidnas, they were completely unprepared for it. Although scientifically advanced, they weren't aggressive and were complacent in their technology. Because of this they never built up the massive stockpiles of weapons that humanity had at a similar stage. If I assume they were at war, they wouldn't have had the sheer destructive power necessary to simply rub out a more primitive culture._

_I may be unable to get any more information from the Gizoid, however, as king Maximillian has recently discovered its existence. He has demanded we turn it over, along with all the information we have discovered so far._

_End note._

Months Later

The chill cut through his gloves as though they weren't there. It didn't help that he had a pair of steel claws attached to the gloves over his fingers, either. Again Knuckles cursed the girl who decided that he should make the trip up the mountain at the centre of Megalopolis, but Tikal had the authority of the science Oligarch behind her, so he had little choice but to jump through her hoops.

Several freezing minutes of climbing sheer cliff face later, he managed to reach his destination, a small cave opening, no more than a yard wide in all directions. The echidna soldier crawled through the opening and was greeted by the most frustrating sight of his life.

Standing right in front of him was a plain brown echidna, wrapped up warm, in a large, open cave (Knuckles refused to think of it as a chamber, despite the ornate feel to it.)

"Welcome to the hidden palace, sir, my name's Khalac, I'm here to escort you to the emerald chamber." The younger echidna showed no signs of the trip up. Knuckles fixed him with a long glare, hoping for an explanation.

"Do get up sir, it'll be quicker for us to get to Tikal." Khalac commanded irritably

"What?" The chill suddenly left the former police officer as he rose and loomed over the smaller echidna in a picture of rage.

"She nipped up here by the transport tunnel while you were climbing up. We all have to climb it the first time, that's part of the ritual of this place." The slightly paler echidna indicated the cavern "It doesn't do to ignore the customs of a holy place."

Knuckles briefly remembered the tale of unification, when the chieftains of the seven strongest echidna tribes gathered at the hidden palace, the greatest temple of the echidna god of war and death, Vichama, and rejected him, signing a peace treaty on his altar and establishing Megalopolis on the lands beneath the mountain as a place for the tribes to resolve their differences without bloodshed.

"It fits. Now that we're at war, the last hope for us is a god we dumped eons ago." Knuckles growled, scowling

"Sometimes fate is funny like that, yes." Khalac replied without a hint of amusement.

The younger echidna turned and strode down a path, indicating that Knuckles should follow. Now that he had a chance to look, he marvelled at the beauty of it. The walls were covered in a dark, almost black crystal, kept illuminated by points of brilliant light that hovered at regular intervals along the walls of the cavern. The cavern floor was bare save for more crystals that jutted from the floor and the temple complex itself, built out of the same beautiful rock that littered the floor and covered the walls.

Knuckles tapped one of the structures "This looks like the stuff we use as chaos reactor containment."

"It is, so in a way, Vichama is responsible for modern day echidna society." His guide replied as they headed for the tiered structure in the centre, the site of the legendary altar itself.

This was confusing, since it didn't really match the legendary description of the war god that the scarlet echidna had learned as a child.

The altar chamber itself was amazing. Around the chamber were six chaos reactors, each attuned to produce a different form of energy, red for heat, green for raw chaos, blue for empowerment, yellow for electricity and purple for dimension warping. He didn't know what the other colour, pale blue, meant however, or what energy it were configured for. In the centre of the room, suspended above a circular hole in the floor was an irregularly shaped mass of crystals to which most of the chambers inhabitants were tending. Despite the probable importance of this strange object, his attention swiftly returned to the gems that the corners of the chamber, a new fury merging with the frustration of the initial journey up.

"These are the reactors that power the whole city!" He exclaimed, outraged.

"They did, but we calculated that we'll need seven emeralds attuned to differing energy forms to do what we plan. It was convenient to move the pre-attuned ones in the city here, where we could conduct our tests in peace. They still power the city, just from here instead of being scattered." The last part was added hastily as a vein began to pulse visibly on Knuckles forehead.

There were no words for the anger Knuckles felt. He'd always known these scientocrats were arrogant, but these past few months had truly driven the point home. This, this was a new level, or high handedness, however.

"It's not like we're winning the war, Knuckles. You have to look at the larger picture. We're losing reactors left and right and every crystal those creatures gets increases their power." The desperation Khalac's voice drew the attention of the other scientists, who turned from their work.

Knuckles raised his hand for silence, causing the younger echidna to flinch as though afraid. He waited for a few second before saying, icily quiet "You've played fast and easy with the rules, but that's not my concern, YET!" The last word was added loudly, causing the younger echidna (and several scientists) to jump. "It doesn't matter what I think about you," You're arrogant, self absorbed and vain Knuckles added mentally "But I do need to know the progress on your 'solution' now." The younger echidna gaped at him, the gathered his wits and lead him towards the massive green rock in the centre

*************

Elsewhere, not far from the front lines, Krunquick slept.

Actually, slept isn't the correct term, he only seemed to be resting. In fact he was exercising his talent to the fullest. In his 'dream' he was seeing the first images of events that would shape the far future of the planet.

A silvery object, much like an elongated fish descended from the sky, landing on the planet with legs that emerged from within the machine. It was surrounded by creatures that were obviously not yeleth, but also not echidna. In fact, they didn't even seem to be of all one species. His attempts to take a closer look were diverted when the crafts occupants emerged.

They were strange, to put it bluntly. They were furless (save for their heads), much like the yelethi, but their skin was a pale pinkish colour, not a healthy green like his people. They had very short muzzles, so short that it was eclipsed by their snouts. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but where all roughly 6 foot tall.

Then one of them, one that resembled a bipedal walrus with an auburn moustache, engaged one of the mobians in single combat. The fight was even, and Krunquick watched eagerly, enjoying the spectacle. This was why he was disappointed when he was rudely shaken out of his vision by a rough hand.

"Sorry, Oracle, but emperor Ko-dorr wished to converse with you." These words, said quietly, drained the irritation from the newly appointed royal oracle and replaced it with gut wrenching fear.

"Did he say what he wanted?" He said, trying to put on his most confident face in for the messenger.

On terrified look from the minion said it all. You never questioned the emperor, especially now that he had not one but fifteen chaos emeralds.

Grunting from the pain, Krunquick struggled into his robes and began the unpleasant trek through the fort, hoping for some quirk of fate that would permanently remove him from beneath his master's thumb.

*************

They finally arrived to see Tikal in her stupid headgear and lab coat.

Knuckles was about to say something when Khalac whispered "Don't disturb her. The attenuation of the sensor crystals is an involving task and we don't want to make mistakes."

"Sensor crystals?"

"We managed to make the part that does the actual work before the war even started. The trouble is that we still need to devise some way of control over it. It won't do if all we can do is negate the power of the reactors in a local area."

'Actually,' thought Knuckles, 'that might be all that's needed.' The red echidna remembered that yeleth mages powers tended to be somewhat tepid until they got their hands on a chaos reactor, at which point the battle was pretty much over, bar the running and the dying. Of course he didn't say this to Khalac. The oligarchy had their hearts set on this idea and it wasn't worth his job to disagree.

"Indeed." He growled

There was an interminable wait for Tikal to finish her task. Knuckles began to seriously consider walking away, since he could have been planning a mission or repairing his equipment in the time this pointless errand was taking. After all, he didn't really have a say in it, so why bother knowing? He asked himself.

Finally the young female finished her task, stood up and pulled the silly device from her head. The younger red echidna immediately stepped forward and gave her a questioning look.

"The gem's resonating correctly, so we shouldn't have much trouble from the next few. Did our 'guest' arrive?" Ventreles said brusquely as he strode up to the trio from behind a control station, causing both Khalac and Tikal to jump. Knuckles ignored them.

The still frustrated echidna stepped forward loudly and crossed his arms, making his opinion about the current situation perfectly clear.

The pale echidna gaped before saying "Ah, well, obviously you've seen the controller." He gestured towards the gem. "Do you know what is intended with it?"

For all the tour, the younger red echidna has been evasive about this. Knuckles shook his head fractionally.

He continued "We're going to use the controller to force the emeralds to change reality, getting rid of the creatures once and for all. Which is where you come in." Knuckles eyes narrowed, since he knew he wasn't going to like this part. "We need you and your unit to retrieve a chaos reactor from the yeleth." As he said this he straightened, his tone and face hardening with command.

"Why not just take one from another city, like you did before." Knuckles couldn't keep the tone of accusation from his voice. It was bad enough asking him to risk his life, but when they already had a plentiful supply of reactors.

"We can't reproduce the particular chaotic resonance the yeleth call on when they use the reactors. If we don't understand it they may have a chance of stopping our plans altogether." Ventreles said, his tone unwavering.

The former police chief ground his teeth "So you want me to take my squad, the last survivors of MY home, on a suicide mission to retrieve a 'special' chaos reactor, is that it?"

"In a nutshell, yes." The old grey echidna replied glibly "So nice of you to understand so readily."

Knuckles began to curse under his breath with a devout fervour. He then turned abruptly and strode back for towards the entrance.

"The transport tubes are on the right." Khalac called behind him.

"I'm going down the mountainside. I need to cool off." Knuckles said stubbornly. He regretted it when he got outside. Not enough to turn back, though.


	8. Chapter 8: The Mission

_Gerald's notes:_

_Thanks to the efforts of his majesty, King Maximillian the first, Gizoid is no longer an avenue for further archaeological research. The only possible sources are the echidna colonies that were mentioned. Unfortunately, Gizoid's memory banks had no record of where these refugee colonies were, probably to prevent their detection, should the Gizoid be captured. Of course, any records wouldn't be very useful anyway, since the shoreline has undoubtedly changed since then and the echidnas historically didn't have cordial relations with the other mobian races._

_Obviously it's back to chasing rumours. Although there's a legend amongst mobians of a magical floating island, it seems so unlikely (especially since we never detected it) that I'll invest resources pursuing other tales first._

_End of note_

"Well?" His voice cut through pathetic flailing of his minion effectively. Krunquick always said that visions he called as opposed to received caused him pain, but Ko-dorr didn't really believe it much. The pitiful Yeleth remained quivering on the floor, severely tempting the diminutive dictator to kick him, or at least get one of his son's or a bodyguard to do so.

Gradually the quivering began to subside. Ko-dorr briefly hoped that his minion had come out of his trance. He prodded the faintly moving Yeleth with his staff of office causing the creature to groan slightly.

The emperor felt his impatience surge, "Get up." He commanded, emphasising the words with a magical compulsion.

Krunquick stiffened for a fraction of a second, either resisting or trying to process his vision, then rose, moaning in pain as his damaged back and limbs protested. The pained seer shot his Ko-dorr a plaintive look which failed to really register with the shrivelled overlord of the empire.

"A new generation broodlings has been born in the time it took for you to have that vision. Tell me, before you make me wait any longer." Briefly, Ko-dorr felt the oracles mind wonder why a creature that was likewise immortal could have so little patience, which earned the minion a vicious swipe from the sceptre. "Now! And no more off target visions." He didn't even need to refer to the irrelevant prophecy of a mechanical saviour standing in the way of a demonic mobian hedgehog.

Krunquick cowered before speaking, "I saw the echidnas; they're coming."

"They always come." The emperor proclaimed arrogantly "And we always stop them."

Suddenly Krunquick didn't look like he was worried about his master anymore, "They won't come force us out, they'll be coming for the white chaos emerald." This brought Ko-dorr up short. Although the Yeleth had captured many chaos emeralds, the white emerald was his pride and joy, the result of extensive effort to manipulate the emerald into producing exactly the right sort of power for sorcery. It would be possible to alter another chaos emerald to do it, but the procedure would be so tedious he'd rather not.

"How do they know about it and what do they want it for." The first question was met with a faint, but noticeably condescending thought from the oracle, for which the ancient Yeleth resolved to punish him, later. The oracle didn't even clear this from the tone of his voice when he answered the second question "They've created a new emerald, one designed to cripple all the chaos emeralds. This master emerald could threaten our entire conquest of their lands."

The emperor cursed inwardly. He'd known that someday the echidnas would find a way to stop the source of Yeleth power. After all, they'd created the things. He just counted himself lucky he had a cadre of excellent officers and sorcerers blessed with immortality. And one increasingly recalcitrant oracle who he couldn't afford to be rid of... Yet.

"We'll double our defences." Ko-dorr said, all confidence, knowing that the oracle would be pleased, since a simple increase of the guard wouldn't be able to stop the echidnas. Of course, HIS mind was shielded against the oracles own probing.

************

As he glanced back to see how his squad was doing, he felt a rush of pride for all of them, even the adapted gizoid servants. The team, each a veteran of countless missions, moving throughout the rocky cover swiftly, minimizing the chances of them being spotted by conventional detection, relying on the rain to cover the sounds of their hasty manoeuvres. Of course conventional detection wasn't the issue, as all the soldiers were outfitted with a new form of holographic camouflage, it was the sorcerers and especially the oracle. Knuckles hadn't believed in it at first, but the evidence mounted to such a point that no echidna could deny his existence. Somewhere within the Yeleth empire was a being capable of seeing events before they happened, and no amount of talk about leaky intelligence was going to explain otherwise.

That's why he'd insisted on deploying the four most experienced gizoid combat units along with his team. It was expensive making a gizoid, and they tended to get destroyed on the first few missions, but once they had experience they were amazing combatants, so they were always in high demand. Many higher ranking (but less successful) officers had also made requests for these particular robots. It spoke volumes of how much the oligarch of science had staked on this plan that he'd pulled the strings to get Knuckles exactly what he'd requested, bar one thing.

He had only allowed the red furred echidna a night to recover from the trip down the mountain before sending him and his squad out on the mission. As a result Knuckles' body still ached from the climb, and it seemed to worsen as they passed through one of the numerous, small and above all damp canyons for cover, water sloshing around their feet.

He didn't have the energy to curse as his boots filled with the brown fluid, and he was grateful that none of his echidnas complained either. The gizoids, of course, never complained. But then, they didn't have voices. He was just grateful that they were almost at their destination and he would probably be dead soon.

Almost in response to this thought, the canyon opened, causing the red echidna to hug the right hand wall and glance across the opposite side. There, right where they'd planned, was the camp. Of course camp was a bit of a misnomer when the whole thing was constructed by magic. It more closely resembled a fortress made out of green stone, which Knuckles knew was congealed chaos energy.

He remembered himself and signalled the squad to halt, indicating their destination.

"Okay, boys and girls. Here's where it get's interesting."

*************

Tikal extended her mind's eye towards the battlefield, obeying the orders relayed to her by Khalac. The room around her blurred and faded, and she gods eye view of the battlefield. It wasn't complete, any areas without some form of life didn't appear to her senses, a detail which caused her to panic, since it gave the impression that the gizoids had fallen and the echidnas exposed, until she reached into the mind of the lead echidna and got a rough record of events.

Calmed somewhat, she began to follow her orders. The echidna soldiers hadn't been informed that she was supposed to keep an eye on them and telepathically intervene when they were in trouble. Idly, she wondered what her role would be called by those soldiers. Probably 'strategic support' or something like that.

She suddenly remembered the goal of the soldier's mission and began reaching out for its location. It was a mistake to consciously reach for it, since it nearly overwhelmed her and by the time she managed to regain her clarity the echidnas were almost to the walls.

*************

The Yeleth soldiers patrolling the walls were silently taken out of action, they necks either bleeding or snapped before they could raise the alarm of cry for help. A few curt gestures from Knuckles and the echidnas were moving through the camp in the dark minutes between false dawn and the real dawn. Now that they were past the walls, the camp did actually look like a camp, with the notable exception of the officer's tower, which was composed of the same chaotic energy as the walls. Gizoid didn't waste time wondering about the effects of prolonged exposure to the stuff, they didn't intend to be here for long. Instead it wondered why the white chaos reactor was kept so close to the front. That seemed to be a tactical mistake, placing such a valuable tool within the reach other the enemy, unless it was bait.

That thought worried Gizoid somewhat, but not enough to cause him to miss another patrolling sentry. He instantly hid, his squad likewise moving into concealment. As the sentry passed he crept out of hiding, quickly crossing the distance between then and grabbing the yeleth's neck, preventing the alarm being called. The thickness presented some difficulty, but once the robot was able to find purchase on the creature's long snout it was easily able to twist the creature's spine until it broke. It carefully dragged the corpse into a hiding place, as basic stealth protocol required as the rest of the team began to move on. It didn't take long for them to reach the tower, since the camp was only lightly guarded. This gave Gizoid an unpleasant feeling in its processor, a feeling apparently shared by the echidnas too. The robot couldn't tell what the other gizoids felt, but it was sure they had come to the same grim conclusion too.

This was far too easy to be anything but a trap.

*************

Krunquick used his vision in a fashion he'd never done before: Rather than gazing into the distant future, he directed his vision merely a second ahead, hoping for greater control over where his vision went. He then managed to direct his vision to the site of the white chaos emerald, focusing first on the familiar gem, then searching out from it for the echidnas. He noted in passing that Ko-dorr had done exactly as he'd anticipated, something he felt doubly grateful for, since it meant his mind shielding techniques were effective, as well as the fact that the emperor had done the things that would ultimately free him from his master's service.

He found the echidnas had now encountered significant resistance in the form of fully armed and equipped warriors and a few mages, but even this was beneath the standard resistance level and he could tell they knew it. Their movements were becoming increasingly cautious now that they closed on their goal, a fact which caused Krunquick to feel increasing impatience.

It was his impatience which undid him, causing him to lower his defences and open himself to psychic detection. A familiar presence filled his mind, preventing him from pulling back to the present, hijacking his vision and directing it elsewhere.

Krunquick could only watch, helpless, as the mind of Tikal pulled his vision away from the current events and into the far future.

*************

Knuckles leaned beside the door. They'd been searching the rooms methodically, combing the place for the reactor. As such there were only two other echidnas and a gizoid with him. Knuckles glanced at the gizoid's serial number, then marvelled at the coincidence or encountering the same one that he'd presented Tikal with back at the start of the war. His mind snapped back to task as another echidna took out her rifle. Knuckles likewise drew his weapon and glanced at the others so they knew to as well. Stealth was now completely out the window, since they would have to get the reactor and smash anything in their way.


	9. Chapter 9: Destiny

_Gerald's Notes:_

_It has turned out to be simpler than we expected to discover the location of an echidna settlement. All we did was track the energy of a chaos emerald after we excluded the one in Mobotropolis from our search, of course. The problem came from the fact that they evacuated their settlement shortly before we arrived, taking the emerald with them. This frustration has been repeated several times since, giving us the impression that the echidnas of the present day have been in hiding for long enough that they do not trust the other mobian species._

_It turns out that historically Mobian echidnas inhabited prime territories before they disappeared, but were forced out by the superior numbers of the more primitive races. All accounts confirm that the echidnas were fewer in number than their competitors after the continent of Urachii disappeared, leaving them at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, any unbiased historical sources have since been removed, so the echidnas of the past are painted as aloof, arrogant and complacent in their technological superiority._

_We've found another colony and this time we'll take a more cautious approach._

_End Note _

Ko-dorr didn't even flinch when the door blasted open, fragments of its mystical form evaporating as they hit his shield. Of course many of his elite guards did, along with many of the mages less confident in their magical barriers.

Ko-dorr watched closely as the echidna's swung around the corners of the door, firing their weapons, slaughtering most of the guards and penetrating the barriers of the less experienced mages. A few of the bullets shattered against his shield and he felt the familiar strain as it exacted its price for protecting him. He and the surviving mages hurled various forms of magical energy back, but the echidna's disappeared behind their cover before the projectiles could reach them, causing the various attacks sail harmlessly down the corridor behind them.

The sight of the fireballs and dark energy bolts exploding beyond any hope of hurting the echidna's made the emperor of the Yeleth seethe with anger, and he began crafting a spell even as he saw one the echidna's mechanical servants strafe into a firing position, a large metal tube held firmly on its shoulder. The Yeleth unleashed a bolt of chaotic energy just as the tube emitted a plume of smoke. Time seemed to slow down as the large bullet flew straight for the spell. In the fraction of a second before the missiles collided, Ko-dorr had a sudden bad feeling, as though this time, the winds of chance wouldn't favour him.

The projectiles, one scientific, the other mystical, exploded together, the resultant reaction causing the gravity in the immediate area to increase dramatically. Ko-dorr was dragged down with a yelp, the shocked cries of the mages and echidnas at least providing reassurance that he wasn't at the mercy of his enemies.

This thought remained until he remembered the robot which was now striding purposefully straight towards the white emerald, completely unfazed by the increased weight. Desperately, the emperor of the yelethi reached out with his mind to attempt to paralyse the thief, only to be embarrassingly reminded that machines didn't respond to psychic influence. He heard the weak cheers of the echidna soldiers who lay prone by the door, their weapons forgotten.

The lord of all the yelethi felt more than saw the white emerald being moved. The power of his creation radiated from the machines hand as it strode effortlessly back to the door. The echidnas were now struggling to their feet, staggering away from the painfully high gravity. The last to go, a red echidna with an aura of frustration, waited for the emerald bearing robot before taking up position behind it, guarding it from any retaliation.

This turned out to be an excellent bit of foresight, as one of the mages threw a continuous stream of lightning right at the gizoid's back as the red warrior stepped into harm's way. Ko-dorr drew satisfaction from the echidna's agonised shrieks, though they provided only a slight comfort in defeat.

*************

"Where have you taken me?!" Krunquick demanded furiously.

The most reaction that the astral echidna gave him was a brief shushing gesture before returning her gaze to the city around her.

"Hello? I'm talking to you!"

"It doesn't seem right that it's empty," The echidna female said to herself, further frustrating the Yeleth seer whose powers she'd borrowed "So much of it destroyed."

The Oracle looked around. The buildings were immensely tall, but so weathered that many of them had fallen inwards. The few that didn't looked even older than the ones that had, and the constant effect of the damage had left the floor covered with sand like dust. The time he had to observe it in detail was cut short, however, since the attachment between him and the telepath dragged him higher up, only to see the island as a whole.

"Okay, this is different." The girl said

"Different how?" Krunquick asked

The female echidna shot him a disgusted look and said "Well, before, this wasn't an island in the sky."

"You know this place?"

She didn't reply, turning her gaze to the giant floating sphere that was falling onto the island as they spoke. On one side was a face much like the peculiar human he'd seen in the other vision (although this time it was made of metal) this side of the orb crashed directly onto island next to a region covered by what appeared to be red and yellow spots from the distance. The oracle tried to move for a closer look at the island itself, but was frustrated as the girl moved them both along the timeframe several weeks. The area immediately around the sphere had been covered in machinery, and the sphere was now floating well above the island, giving all the impression that it would continue to rise forever.

Both the oracle and the telepath had their gaze drawn by a light behind them, as the mountain at the centre of the island began to spark with energy. Krunquick had spent enough time around chaos emeralds to recognise the type of energy being used, and was vindicated when the energy began to coalesce about the peak into a sphere of energy which hung there for a fraction of a second before arcing directly into the lower portion of the sphere's hull. The explosion took out a quarter of the spheres hull, causing it to list awfully.

The eye's of the sphere's face glowed for a second before a beam of energy blasted from them, obliterating the dust filled city as the two people in the vision looked on. The girl wailed in despair as the city evaporated, but Krunquick didn't turn to make see what the girl was upset about, since he'd noticed a series of other explosions within the sphere. Suddenly a ship, minute compared to the now falling orb, blasted from a hole in the hull and flew away from the wreck, propelled by plumes of light. The thing seemed to be making a clean escape before a yellow spark flew from the spheres hull before he could fully register and chased it down, smashing it into pieces.

A humanoid robot emerged from the shattered vessel, carrying an emerald half its size and batting the spark aside, pushing it right in front of the ethereal observers. Under closer examination the spark was in fact an energy aura surrounding a yellow mobian hedgehog with upturned spines. The hedgehogs face was filled with an unspeakable fury and it was back harassing the robot before they could get a closer look.

It was at this point that the vision ended and they were both pulled back to the present, their minds separating along the way.

Krunquick's body awoke covered in sweat. In spite of the unwelcome influence that had been placed on his mind, that particular vision had been the most detailed and controlled one he'd had to date. In spite of the inconvenience of the possession, he began to think of it as a blessing in disguise, since he now had a clue on how to direct his visions for himself.

*************

Knuckles was dimly aware of two things. There was the smell of cooking meat, and he heard someone was screaming. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was the source of both. He tried to remember how he'd gotten here, but the pain prevented him from remembering much besides a sense of urgency. He tried to move, only for the pain to intensify slightly.

A shadow passed over him and a snapping noise was heard and suddenly the pain stopped, leaving only the memorised agony of the lightning. Suddenly the memories of what had happened came flooding back, including the reason he was here. He felt a cold hands scoop him up, slinging him over a metal shoulder.

"Did we get it?" He asked, but there was no answer before he passed out.

*************

Zachary watched as the squad leader was carried to safety by the team gizoid. However much he despised the robots, he was grateful to have them on this mission. The robot didn't stop after it passed the echidnas, instead it merely carried on as though it would go directly for the extraction point regardless of what else happened.

The reminded him, "The package is secure, proceed to extraction point." The soldier broadcast to the other teams. He then nodded towards the other soldier, Kuven, indicating for her to get ahead of the gizoid and take point. He then turned around and fired his weapons a few times to discourage pursuit, then followed the rest of the team.

*************

Although the little misadventure with the Oracle had been cathartic, Tikal managed to look in on the mission just as the team were proceeding to the waiting verti-craft transport. It was obvious that several of the tactical teams were missing a squad member or gizoid, their numbers cut by the yeleth guards. She was surprised to find that so many mages had been present during the battle, but the presence of the white chaos reactor was a comfort.

It was laughably easy to alert the various teams to any approaching Yeleth squads, although she was a little wary in her scouting, since she detected the powerful psychic presence of the 'master' that Krunquick mind had indicated to her once.

She counted herself lucky that this leader of the Yeleth never made his presence known to her, and eagerly retreated as the all the echidna teams reached the VTOL craft in time.

She hastily removed the device and looked up, only to see the anxious face of Khalac staring down at her.

"Did they," He didn't get the time to finish the question

"They're on their way back with the reactor, get set, but prepare hospital beds for five of them and get mechanics ready for two of the gizoid robots." Tikal said in a commanding voice, reminding herself painfully of her father.

"On it." Her chosen said submissively, turning to relay the orders.

She stood and left the bare room, heading down the corridor for the nearest transport tube. Tikal felt dead inside at the moment, tired and emotionally drained. The vision she'd shared with the yeleth seer had disturbed her, and she needed to tell the oligarch about what had happened.

At least we know how they get their intelligence on our attacks now. Tikal thought bitterly. Which begs the question: How do you fight someone who can see the future?


	10. Chapter 10: Emergence

_Gerald's Notes:_

_I was successful in contacting the echidnas, although they were suspicious about my motives, apparently my interest in their history was something of a surprise to them, since every previous occasion that the echidnas have encountered outsiders has been a grim tale of bloodshed. They've since revealed to me that there are seven chaos emeralds left on Mobius, although they do not know the location of all of them and aren't about to divulge the hiding place of the one that they've managed to recover. When asked about the colony itself they explained that it and other like it were originally refugee camps from the destruction of Urachii. They have yet to explain how Urachii came to be destroyed or what happened to the hundreds of chaos emeralds that existed according to the Gizoids memory banks. _

_Apparently the events are too terrible for them to repeat._

_End Note._

Weeks later

Khalac paced furiously outside the hospital ward. He hated having to wait outside during Tikal's visits to the soldiers, mainly because he despised unsatisfied curiosity. He wondered what they said to her and what she said to them.

In spite of his impatience, he didn't really begrudge her this visitation, since he'd known this soldier since the war began. It didn't stop him from feeling restive, of course. The fact that the yelethi had surrounded Megalopolis was anxious, especially as the messages received from the remaining echidnas across the continent was increasingly grim. Not only was the city cut off, but it was becoming the sole island of echidna control on the continent. Even if they were able to weather the now continuous attacks, they would starve unless there was support from outside the city soon.

He was brought out of his gloomy reverie by the beeping of his pager, which he hastily withdrew and examined. Apparently Ventreles wished him to meet with him in the emerald chamber, immediately. The young echidna briefly considered waiting for Tikal, then thought against it, for if the oligarch of science had discovered something that needed his help it was better given sooner than later.

*************

The old echidna moved around the chaos reactors, making sure they were in exact alignment. What he intended to do was not only dangerous, it was going to cost him the assistant he'd spent years grooming to be his successor. Unlike anyone else he knew of the spiritual presence of the war god here. This presence noticed that this was taking longer than usual, but then, his high priest, Ventreles, had sent away the rest of his crew so this event could take place with the appropriate privacy.

Vichama gazed on carelessly, feeling a bitter disappointment in his high priest powers of persuasion. It wasn't that the young assistant wouldn't do, but the war god's first choice of host had rejected him beyond a shadow of a doubt, much to Vichama's displeasure. Of course, now that Knuckles was incapacitated he'd lost interest in the stubborn echidna. He needed a healthy host to begin the work he had given himself, and one had been provided. The visions he'd sent Ventreles were only the last salvo in his attempt to claim this world once and for all.

The old echidna started, causing Vichama to shift his divine sight to see what had spooked the elder. He felt the young Khalac arriving, alone, via the transport tubes. The war god felt Ventreles frantically check the emeralds one last time before the younger echidna could arrive. As Khalac opened the door the white furred echidna placed himself directly beside the master emerald control system, the war god sharing his wariness of the master emerald. If anything could prevent his return it was this gem, a fact which frustrated Vichama, since in this form he was unaffected by it, but soon, it would be his bane.

He noticed that Ventreles was talking to Khalac, his face a mask of grief. The war god wanted to scream in a vision for the elder echidna to get on with it, his eagerness for a body in which he could kill according to his whim almost overwhelming his patience.

As Khalac approached the emeralds, Vichama's anticipation rose, and he moved directly in front of the young echidna, unseen due to his spirit form. He examined the echidna closely, since he was going to be using his body after all. The echidna meanwhile stared in wonder at the chaos reactors which were placed in equidistant positions around the master emerald. It filled the war god with pleasure to see his shock as the master emerald suddenly sank to the altar level and the chaos reactors began to brighten further.

*************

"What's happening?" Khalac's squeaked in fright.

"I'm sorry, so sorry." Came the semi coherent reply. Khalac glanced briefly at the older echidna, noticing him visibly trembling "It's the only way." Sorry about what, he wondered, and what was this 'way'?

He didn't get the chance to ask as the light from the reactors further intensified, blinding him. The lack of awareness only added to the terror as chaos energy began to suffuse every cell in his body. Khalac screamed, not in pain but in horror, as he could only imagine what this much chaos energy could do to an echidna.

He looked at Ventreles, expecting him to likewise be affected by the chaos energy, but for some reason the light of the reactors never reached him. In fact, the light seemed to bend and turn on itself in order to flow completely into the younger echidna.

"What's happening?" Khalac demanded again

"You're receiving the blessing. You'll be able to stop the Yeleth that have broken into the city." Ventreles said mournfully

Khalac briefly forgot that he was being irradiated by chaos energy "What?"

"They broke through our defences fifteen minutes ago, when I called you." The older echidna didn't meet his eyes. "This will allow you to stop them, at a cost."

"What's the price?" Khalac demanded as another presence began to invade his mind. He didn't hear the reply, as his consciousness was suddenly forced to the back of his mind, his access to his own senses cut off in the process.

*************

Ventreles felt the change in chaos energy as Vichama seized control of the young echidna's body, so he then raised the master emerald back to it could deactivate the chaos reactors.

"You were going to tell him." The voice that sounded from the now glowing white echidna before him was displeased. It turned its eyes, which had been replaced with a blue white glow now, towards him.

"Khalac had served loyally for many years. I owed him the truth." The old echidna said with a much conviction as he could muster. Even so, his voice trembled.

The avatar of the war god stood silent for a few seconds, evidently deciding if it should kill him for his meagre defiance, then decided against it, turned and walked purposefully out of the temple. The old echidna could only follow as Vichama calmly walked to the ancient cave entrance to the hidden palace, then began to punch at the edges, shattering rock with each blow.

"Milord, wouldn't the transport tubes be quicker?" Ventreles said as it occurred to him that the war god intended to simply jump off the mountain.

The old echidna trembled as his god paused, shrugged off his advice like an irksome fly, and then smashed the entrance wide open, letting in the freezing mountain air into the temple complex for the first time in aeons, then leapt into the air.

Ventreles expected the glowing echidna deity to crash down to earth, but instead he rocketed to the city, his entire body glowing even more intensely.

It then occurred to the old echidna that Vichama might not want to help the race that had betrayed him. He then called back the rest of the team behind the master emerald project.

*************

Vichama sensed more than saw the fight below, and angled directly for it, almost instantly arriving in the battle.

As he landed the battle paused, yeleth halting their charge and echidnas ceasing their fire as they stared at the glowing creature before them, trying to discern if it was friend or foe.

'Time to show them where my allegiances lie.' Thought Vichama as he rushed over to an echidna soldier and seized him by the leg. He was then instantly within the yeleth line, swinging the unfortunate soldier like a club, transforming a semicircle around him into a pulverised mess of broken and screaming bodies.

The war god discarded the now destroyed echidna warrior and drove his fist completely through the nearest living thing standing, a yeleth soldier who didn't even get the chance to scream. Vichama noticed the overpressure from his punch forced many of the warriors behind his victim to fall to the ground, but his attention was diverted as an enterprising soldier swung and axe at the back of his head, causing the weapon to break at the handle. The war god contemptuously swung his elbow behind him, causing the luckless creature's head to explode.

Vichama turned his gaze on the now retreating Yeleth, sensing that the echidnas, too, were fleeing the area, although they'd made use of the buildings, which would make them harder targets for now. Vichama briefly considered the rewarding aspects of hunting down the echidna soldiers against the easy mass slaughter of the yeleth fleeing down the street. It then occurred to him that he could sense the echidnas wherever they went, so they couldn't hide from him, a luxury he didn't have with the yelethi. This, coupled with the fact that the yeleth might not come and fight him so readily if his presence was reported, made him turn his attention fully onto the fleeing primitives that were about to turn a corner and get a seconds reprieve.

His decision made, Vichama focused energy into his eyes and let loose a bolt of energy that cut through the ranks of the yeleth unit like butter. It only took a few seconds until it was over and the almighty god of death strode across the broken and dismembered corpses of the detachment of the yelethi. Even though the fighting in this street was finished, he could sense the conflict all around him, fuelling his divine power.

This pleased him, since this battle had been unfulfilling, cowardly and weak as his opponents were. He only hoped that there were worthier opponents to be found in this battle.

*************

Far from the city, safely protected by a platoon of his elite guards, the emperor of the yeleth gloated. Although the casualties had been heavy, several units of his crack soldiers had broken through the city's defences. It hadn't been a siege in the conventional use of the word, since the echidnas had really held them back with a wall of bullets that cut down any soldier who came within range.

Now his troops had finally broken through, the echidnas retreating in disarray. He telepathically directed reinforcements to the districts of the city that had broken, intending to widen the gap in their defences.

As the first of the new squads arrived he felt a brief flicker of fear from one of the detachments already fighting within the city, only for it to disappear from his senses entirely. Ko-dorr immediately leapt to the conclusion that the echidnas had been setting traps and that he'd been 'let' in so his troops would be demoralised and refuse to continue the attack.

This irritated the diminutive overlord slightly, causing him to direct several squads of the reinforcements to their last location.

_What? You thought that the last chapter would stop the yelethi? After they'd conquered several cities, each powered by a chaos reactor? Although there ARE going to be merely seven chaos emeralds by Sonic's era, that doesn't mean there weren't more for the yelethi to use._


	11. Chapter 11: The Cataclysm

_Gerald's Notes:_

_The echidna's informed me of what happened during the last phases of the war. Apparently, their home city was surrounded and the rest of the continent lost their enemy, who seemed intent on genocide. As the situation grew desperate one of their key scientists betrayed his people and offered a sacrifice to their god of war, who they haven't identified to me. The resulting destruction devastated the enemy, driving them back. When I asked if said scientist had done the right thing, the echidna's attitudes grew cold. An elder said that their war god was indiscriminate in his lust for destruction, and killed the echidnas just as readily as their foes. Had he defeated their foes he would have turned on the rest of the echidnas. I asked if the wrath of the war god was some sort of biological weapon, to which they responded affirmatively. Aside from this interesting tale, I have nothing else to report._

_End of note._

"Have you seen Khalac?" Tikal asked curiously, mildly irked by the fact that he hadn't waited for her to finish her interviews with the soldiers, but mostly curious about his lack of presence within the emerald chamber. He was a prominent scientist on the Master Emerald project.

In the past few weeks the cobbled together psychic resonance structure had really taken form, the various crystals arranged in a shape roughly resembling an oversized chaos reactor. Glowing in its heart was the true controller, its light generated as it regulated the chaos radiation of the reactors arranged around it as she'd programmed it to.

"He was here, but he had to leave somewhat abruptly." Ventreles croaked. "I'm sorry."

Something in his tone made the female echidna feel uneasy, and as she looked around, she saw that her feelings were echoes in the faces of many of the team. Ventreles must have noticed too as he then said:

"We need that master emerald fully active people, hop to it."

Everyone got back to their tasks, Tikal retrieving the psionics amplifier from the case, which she'd left conveniently close to the crystalline structure she was working on. Now that she could see the crystal closely, the different parts were visibly discernible, making the otherwise beautiful gem seem flawed. She held the crown like psy-amp before her, considering the recent events and how they'd affected her. She'd spent many days with the device, working out the problems of interfacing with a non-organic, non-sentient power source, but that was almost over now.

Soon she'd be able to get back to work on her own project. It seemed like years had passed since the war began, particularly since the continent had fallen so swiftly. It was unbelievable at times, how much had changed. The echidnas, her people, had been forced to rediscover how to wage war, and there wasn't a clan that hadn't lost family within the war. Her thoughts drifted back to her father before she rigidly forced them down.

'There'll be time for grieving after we've ended this.' She thought as she gently placed the device on her head, her mind suddenly detecting the thoughts of everyone around her. She felt the usual anxieties from the science crew, but she ignored this. She tried to focus on the master emerald, but a burning guilt made it difficult to focus.

She turned to the mind, whose identity surprised her. Ventreles mind had always been closed to her, but unfortunately, for both of him and Tikal, his resistance wasn't nearly as strong now. The powerful emotion that was dominating him broke through his control and Tikal was in.

*************

Many of the scientists gave cries of dismay as the oligarch of science keeled over, clutching his head and screaming. Many thought it an attack by a mage of the yeleth, but Vichama, who was attuned to his worshipper even though he was beyond his host's sight, knew. He was discovered, and he had precious little time if he wished to remain free to kill and maim whenever he pleased. A yeleth mage hit him with a spell that would have caused a lesser being to disintegrate on the spot, reminding the god that he had there was still the negligible matter of the little playthings that were swarming around him.

Vichama decided that there was still plenty of time, since it would take the psychic echidna several minutes to suitably dispose of the war god's minion, and he decided to continue with the endless slaughter of the helpless yeleth soldiers around him.

*************

"You killed him!" The girl said, every word compounding his guilt. There was no lying to her, her will compelled Ventreles to answer truthfully.

"I had to, the yeleth have broken through our defences." There was a collective gasp from the scientists and he felt Tikal's grip on his mind loosen slightly. "I had to call Vichama, he's the only one powerful enough to turn the tide."

Ventreles knew that none of the scientists on the master emerald project had taken his faith in the ancient war god seriously, thinking it an ironic joke about the location of the original chaos energy blocking crystals. Now, however, they looked at him like he was mad, the same way Pachamac had when he suggested that his friend join him in worship of the old god years ago.

He felt the fury of the girl almost obliterate the bond between them, so he attempted futilely to break her mental grip.

"Hold him, tie him up. Just keep him out of the way." Pachamac's daughter commanded. Ventreles felt his arms grabbed and bound behind him, then his feet. As soon as the girl was sure he couldn't escape, she relinquished her grip on his mind, leaving him alone in a room full of people.

Ventreles watched as the young female returned to her position before the master emerald, although most of the other scientist's eyes were on him. He ignored their hostility, after all, when this failed and Vichama had slain the yelethi, he'd be proven right and be admired as a hero. So he watched, although he did rise to a standing position.

He watched as the girl seemed to be struggling, her emotions psychically resonating frustration and confusion. Although most of the scientist began to share her feelings, Ventreles felt only a growing certainty that he'd made the right choice. He didn't wish failure on Tikal, of course, but he couldn't help but feel a certain self satisfaction when she sighed and reached her hands to the crystals surface.

It was then that the old echidna felt the ambient heat of the room rise dramatically. He took a closer look at the chaos emeralds, noticing when their glow intensified. Not knowing what was going to happen, but still having a fair suspicion of it, the bound oligarch of science dived for one of the heat shielded control stations, causing a cry of alarm to rise from his surprised guards. Their shouts of anger turned to screams of pain, however, as the heat from the giant crystal jigsaw at the centre of the altar began to burn everyone on the room who wasn't behind one of the said stations. Laying behind his cover, Ventreles looked up and saw a continuous stream of chaos energy obliterate a hole in the roof of the altar, then did the same to the cavern and then begin to expand like an umbrella out once it cleared the mountain. Inside the chamber, it became difficult to breathe as the air around him was now almost scalding hot.

His eyes dimmed as the air around him lost most of its oxygen to the heat of the master emerald.

*************

From his perspective outside the city, it seemed as though the world began to boil with chaos energy. The emperor of the yeleth watched as the city was enveloped in what appeared to be an incandescently white ball of energy, which expanded and began to consume those troops that were nearby to the city edge.

Ko-dorr was surprised more than frightened by the magnitude of chaos energy being used, but he only taken aback for a second before he fully recognised the danger this new attack could pose to him. He frantically tried to stop the wave of chaotic energy with his own magical prowess, but to no avail.

Many of the yeleth generals and mages around him, including Krunquick, started to flee as the energy began to encroach on their position. It was only the emperor's monumental pride that kept him from retreating as well. As the blast closed on him, time seemed to come to a virtual halt.

He didn't know exactly how long he waited there, frozen in moment, but the wave of energy continued to move, although at a pace that seemed much abated from his perspective. The sudden allowance of thinking space made it easier for the yeleth lord to get a better grip on the situation.

"It's chaos," he said to himself, "and I'm the greatest yeleth mage ever born."

He reached out with his own magic to sense what the field that was sluggishly approaching was actually doing. He felt it as the energy was selectively targeting whatever yeleth there were within its path and then casting them into the realm of chaos.

Briefly, Ko-dorr felt a flicker of indignation that the echidnas would dare attempt to cast him, and his minions, from the world. He then had an idea that he thought of as especially inspired.

He gathered his magical talent and began to take control of the expanding field of chaos energy, making its effects more general. Everything was now being caught up in its expanding blast, which was perfect for the ancient yeleth creature.

He then began to redirect the magic so the energy was used to send his nation onto another dimension, one closer (but not too close) to the mystic energies of chaos. It required intense control, but it didn't take long as the decrepit yeleth overlord took a sufficiently absolute control over the energy that the time alteration effect was non-existent. He may have been forced out of the world for now, but the yelethi would return to it someday.

When they did, they wouldn't be defeated so easily.

*************

Tikal couldn't feel anything, her senses were gone, ashes with her body. She felt the presence of echidna's minds, but they were travelling away at a startling rate. She tried to move, but couldn't, as her arms were gone.

Tried to remember, but found it hard, her pristine crystalline form retaining no memories of what had happened to her body.

'My body...' she thought, which sparked a memory

There was pain, agonising heat, then her mind had pushed itself into the easiest receptacle for a psychic presence, the master emerald itself. The gem was now flawless, perfected by the alteration that she had subconsciously added to the chaos effect.

The echidnas then halted to her senses, but they were far away and she couldn't call out, the means by which she had spoken before was gone. Tikal tried everything, but the emerald in which she was now imprisoned had means to project a message, even psychically.

She was trapped, she realised in despair.

_Somewhat poorer than the previous chapter, but when I wrote it I was rushed, sorry. This isn't the end of the story, but it is the climax. It's all downhill from here actionwise. (oh wait, the floating island still hasn't begun to fly.)_


	12. Chapter 12: The Floating Island

_Gerald's Notes:_

_I've decided to visit this mysterious floating island. Apparently it contains the most accurate record of pre cataclysm echidna society in existence. However, it is said to be defended by three guardians. Having briefly encountered one in the colony here, I know that they're a ubiquitous, but numerically small, part of echidna society, charged with the defence of echidna secrets and lives. The guardians I've encountered were extremely hostile to outsiders, which is probably part of their function. That's why the colony elder has offered to join me on the expedition along with an infant guardian named Knuckles. He says that the young echidna has been selected to be one of the guardians put to training on the island itself. With that meeting set in motion, I have returned to base and will be taking an air transport and several data recording devices._

_I'm quite grateful that the elder is allowing me to join him, since I don't find the idea of approaching these guardians unannounced. They're physically stronger than normal echidnas, far surpassing any mammal in terms of proportionate strength. They also possess a different hand structure that is marginally conce..._

_Note unfinished _

_Authority: code Shambles_

_User: Dr Robotnik, Ivo_

_All data erased_

_Please start note..._

*************

Ventreles forced himself back to consciousness as quickly as he could, although several other scientists were already standing, looking at the spot where the master emerald had been. The old echidna glanced down, seeing the path of molten and burnt rock where the master emerald, having overheated the means by which it was magnetically, had melted straight into the earth below, destroying the actual altar of Vichama.

He then turned to look at the room in general. The black crystal floors and walls were now matte black instead of reflective, although the areas behind the shielded control stations were mostly the same as before. Also untouched were the chaos reactors, now scattered on the floor, all emanating the standard green glow of an un-configured reactor.

The fact that they were glowing at all raised alarms in the old echidna's mind.

"We've got to get rid of these!" He shouted, pointing as the reactors glows continued to increase. He began to feel a rising nausea, the first sign of chaos energy over-exposure.

Many of the already shocked echidnas within the room began to obey without thinking, their minds still used to obeying the grey echidna. Six of them grabbed a reactor each, ran to the centre of the room then waited by the hole where the altar would have been. Ventreles activated the controls for the rapid transport system within the mountain, forcing the air to pressurise and shoot up through the altar itself. Once he deemed the air's speed sufficiently high he signalled the scientists holding the crystals, who were now beginning to look seriously ill, to cast the gems into the air vent, sending them sailing through the now open hole in the roof.

One echidna was slow in grabbing the seventh reactor, though.

He's probably hesitant about touching the thing, thought Ventreles as he began to voice an order to get on with it. His command was abruptly cut off by a violent crash that shook the whole chamber, dislodging some more of the roof.

"What the devil was that?" Ventreles said as one of the scientists exited the altar and went to the hidden palaces external entrance.

"Oligarch, look." The echidna, a dull brown one, shouted in an awed tone.

Ventreles staggered to the opening, and was horrified by the sight. Besides the city and a small area outside it, the continent had completely disappeared. The city was now being buffeted by water, which crashed somewhat beneath the edge of the land, causing the city to list slightly as the rock beneath it was crushed by the sudden impact of onrushing water.

He shuddered to think what would happen when the rock finally gave way then remembered the last chaos reactor. He turned back to see it still clutched in the fearful scientist who'd picked it up. Its glow had subsided somewhat, as though the proximity of the others had triggered this particular scare. Even the sick feeling in his stomach faded.

Ventreles snatched the crystal from the grasp of the frightened young echidna, rushed back into the altar chamber and began frantically trying to repair and augment the magnetic suspension device. Simply levitating the emerald wasn't enough. The city would soon fall into the ocean unless something was done to make all of it remain safely beyond the destruction by the planet, now vengeful at the sudden change in mass.

*************

Knuckles rose out of his bed, well awake thanks to the reports of fighting within the city. He'd been worried as the sky outside flared white, and the rumbling was too much to ignore. He almost fell over as the ground tilted almost forty five degrees, causing most of the beds to slide over to the window side wall. The red echidna dodged a sliding bed carrying a startled brown furred soldier who he knew by sight. He then began to scramble towards the window at a somewhat safer pace. Several nurses burst into the room, trying to retrieve patients from their beds and attempting, futilely, to keep from sliding embarrassingly down the floor as well.

The ruby echidna ignored them, clambering over several beds, also suppressing the agonising protests from his limbs. He looked out the window to see the city on the edge of an ocean, an ocean tilted at a half right angle to the city itself. He watched in horror as several echidna soldiers, many of whom had been as startled by the sudden change of situation as he was, slid into the ocean. Knuckles guessed they were screaming, as their faces exuded a shocked terror as they did.

Suddenly a firm hand gripped the former police chief's arm, causing him to look sharply at the face of a dark brown furred female, who yanked him towards a rope that was dangling from the wards door.

"We need to get you out of here." She said adamantly

"What about the others?" Knuckles countered, wanting to see if there were any survivors from the unit he saw drowned.

"We already got them, it's time to go." With this the female yanked him towards the rope with a strength that surprised the blood red echidna.

As they were halfway up, however, the rumbling stopped and the room, and the city outside, righted themselves abruptly, forcing both echidnas to adjust their balance to compensate. They were left holding a ridiculously limp rope, standing in the middle of the ward with the beds standing on the window side of the room. Several echidna faces began to peer into the ward.

"What just happened?" Knuckles demanded, earning him a shrug from the nurse

*************

It was several hours later, Ventreles stood in the centre of the audience chamber of the oligarchy. Above him sat the much reduced ranks of the oligarchy itself. Masral was conspicuous by her absence.

In the place he'd normally occupy stood a relatively minor scientist, an albino echidna, Doctor Zachary of the same tribe as Knuckles, who was now sitting in the position of the dead oligarch of justice.

It was Falken, the Oligarch of merchants who spoke "Former Oligarch Ventreles of tribe Jellen, you stand accused of heresy, of creating a series of devices that caused the devastation of the echidna race," At this Ventreles felt a wave of fury at the hypocrisy of the speaker. Yes, he'd built the chaos reactors, he thought, but you and most of the people in this room now were the ones who wanted so many. "and of giving the war god, Vichama, who caused the deaths of seven and severe maiming of over twenty soldiers during the battle. In the process of this, you betrayed your assistant, Khalac, who remains unaccounted for." Falken seemed to neglect the fact that the estimated yeleth casualties from Vichama's attack were at least ten times higher. "Do you have anything to say as explanation for your crimes?" Ventreles noted that the trader Oligarch did not ask if he was guilty or not. That had been decided. He didn't bother to explain their own complicity in events; the oligarch audience chamber was a closed government. Instead he decided to offer something that was at least a mild mitigation.

"I cannot reply to the charge of inviting the war, but the selection of an avatar of the war god bought enough time for the scientist, Tikal, to wipe the yelethi from the face of the planet. In so doing, she destroyed at most of the continent. We would have crashed into the sea had it not been for my device suspending the cities fall right now, and that is only a temporary solution." As he said the last part, he grimly understood why Zachary had been selected to replace him. The albino echidna was the second best chaos based science experts in the business. Not as good as he was, but Zachary would do as an adequate replacement.

Right now his fate rested in the hands of the pale echidna engineer. Odds were, Ventreles thought, the loyalty of the scientists had been effectively negated by his betrayal of his closest advisor. He hoped against hope he'd judged wrong.

"I have examined Professor Ventreles device and concur with his assessment. The device currently being used is too prone to overheating. We should hold off any form of incarceration until after he has assisted in the creation of a more reliable device." Ventreles sighed almost audibly.

"Very well. It will give you more time to set up that 'permanent solution' you suggested, as well." Ventreles did like the sound of that. Execution was a thing of the past, but he could see the oligarchy reviving it for the supposed crimes he'd committed.

*************

Falken leaned back, glad to have gotten through the grim trial of Ventreles. It covered both his and several others tails. What else was there, he mused to himself, oh, yes...

"I received your advice for a platoon of genetically enhanced soldiers to hunt down the chaos reactors, Zachary. I'm curious to know why you think that we need super soldiers to retrieve them." Damn it, he thought, I can never muster up the formal grandeur of old Masral.

Zachary cleared his throat. "I'm sure you know how more primitive races have reacted to us in the past." The very recent past, Falken added mentally "Also, we've maltreated other races of this planet in the past, so we can expect resistance. And since most of our race was wiped out, aside from the colonies on the other continents and the people here, our own police forces are too few in number to retrieve them safely. There's also the risk of dealing with another super transformed being, in which case we cannot waste lives by sending in mundane echidnas." It went without saying that since virtually their entire race was annihilated, each life counted.

"Which brings up the issue, what if one of these super soldiers super transforms?" There was a great deal of fear relating to this. After the devastation of the first super transformation, what would happen if a super-powered being transformed?

"I'm working of a way to genetically configure something that is totally resistant to chaos energy." There was also an implicit security. Chaos energy was the engine of evolution. If the creatures were totally resistant to chaos energy then they wouldn't evolve, allowing the non altered echidna's to leave them behind over time.

Then Knuckles the fiery red echidna soldier who Falken knew next to nothing about spoke up. "The next question is what are we to do about the city itself? There's no way we can sustain it forever, most of the inhabitants survived and we don't have the supplies to keep them fed forever." There was only one answer, and everyone, including Knuckles, knew it.

"Evacuate the city. We'll drop the civilians at the colonies." Falken replied sadly.

*************

Far above the island, the six chaos emeralds, buoyed by their own energies, began to float in the upper atmosphere of Mobius. Their energies reacted with each other, intensifying their glow until a massive wave of chaos energy exploded, scattering the gems, which ultimately fell down in different parts of the planet.

The green blast was seen by almost every mobian below, were they echidna or mundane mobian. But the flash was not just noticed on Mobius. Across the vast gulf of space, the chaos energy released by the event would reach a culture just starting out on their interstellar journeys, a race that would ultimately be lured by the promise that the energy held.

_And that's that, the climax is finally done. Not the end of the story, but from here on it's all relatively political and stuff relating to the fate of the seven chaos emeralds that still remain on Mobius. Yeah, this fiction deviates from most of the Sonic universes in that there were loads of them prior to an incident, but since it's set in the underground universe, I get a bit more freedom._


	13. Chapter 13: Khalac's End

It's a logistical nightmare, thought the emperor as he tried to sort out habitation for the newest generation of Yeleth. It had only been a few weeks and his people had already overpopulated the continent they had conquered.

Under normal circumstances this wouldn't have been a problem, but the continent that had been stolen was simply hanging in the middle of a blank dimension, its continued life sustained by the magic he and his highest sorcerers had weaved around the continent when they first arrived. Now that the Yeleth numbered in billions, the less powerful Yeleth were turning to cannibalism as the land was increasingly unable to sustain them. Ko-dorr made sure that any that were caught were given a suitably gruesome death, but had been unable to stamp it out entirely. Fortunately most of the casualties had been echidna slaves, but it was starting to become uncontrollable.

This was why he'd arranged a communion with the most powerful yeleth sorcerers and scientists. He re-examined the time piece that had been looted from one of the echidna cities. It was curious mechanism, but quickly figured out by the scientists. It gave little hope, for although his people were quickly unravelling all the secrets of their enemies, his empire would tear itself apart before then.

*************

Weeks had passed since his host had been imprisoned along with these... creatures within what he'd begun to think of as the nightmare country. Vichama forced his weakened host forward towards the next town full of victims, his hold over it dwindling as the finite chaos energies he'd used to manifest began to finally fade. The host redoubled its efforts, almost as though it sensed his weakness. The struggle was intense, and lasted longer than usual, but he finally forced the consciousness, once named Khalac, back into its corner.

Vichama felt a brief satisfaction at a memory, for he'd cut off the mentality of the echidna from its own memories, eventually erasing its sense of self. Currently the only remnant of 'Khalac' was a stubborn flicker of rage and a feeling of betrayal, which fought against its own dissolution even as it continued to battle the war god.

This mental diversion finally ran its course, and Vichama remembered that if he failed to get to a chaos emerald soon, the steady discharge of chaos energy would force him to abandon the host before he could slaughter anything more.

He directed his gaze towards the town, now closer, and trudged towards it. Before he could have flown to get there, but if he didn't conserve his energies now he wouldn't have any for the slaughter once he got there.

*************

"It's clear that the current system of singular overlord is unworkable, there's too much land and too many people for one being to accommodate them all." Many at the table were shocked, not by the idea, for they all knew it, or counted on it in their personal plans, but by the admission. Ko-dorr, Haggra knew, was phenomenally arrogant, so she immediately began to suspect a long term trick which would ultimately work out in the emperor's favour, if she allowed it.

She was startled when a bulky Yeleth patriarch named Dastral rose suddenly, his teeth bared in a feral smile.

"If you're saying that you are insufficient for the task of ruling the yeleth, you should surrender your position to someone better suited." And if you're going to suggest it's you, I'll kill you myself. Haggra thought as she glanced contemptuously up at him. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees as Ko-dorr gave the impetuous patriarch an inscrutable look before speaking.

"I am saying, as the most gifted leader of any yeleth house, that no single yeleth is capable of governing our people." He said clearly "Certainly not anyone without the foresight to see the benefits of the situation being offered." This surprised the female yeleth, as more often than not, Ko-dorr simply punished impertinence with death.

"What, exactly, are you proposing, emperor?" Haggra said quickly, cutting off Dastral who was about to splutter back a challenge. Unlike some of the patriarchs and matriarchs, Haggra was one of the yelethi leaders who had already been ancient when given her personal chaos emerald. Like the thirteen others seated around a finely built wooden table in a pristine white room, she had her gem dangling on a chain. The only Yeleth who didn't flaunt their prize was the emperor himself, who alone held the access to the remaining five that had been captured, save for the white emerald, which the echidnas had stolen from its owner.

"I am 'proposing'," The way the emperor emphasised the word, propose, indicated his distaste for the term, "That we divide up the continent into regions governed by houses, organised from our current clan loyalties."

"Obviously, there are some difficulties involved in oversight and legal problem." Tenedias, a tall, lanky yeleth said, cutting off many of the slower clan leaders "I assume that you intend to retain a certain degree of control, my emperor?"

"Of course, my house shall be empowered by imperial law and handle the enforcement of any laws clans have within their own territories." Thus allowing your soldiers a presence within any clan's territories at any time, thus minimizing any thought of rebellion, Haggra added mentally.

Most of the other yeleth leaders looked around with the same dour expression. It wasn't a complete surrender of power, but at least they would have some degree of autonomy, now.

"Why should we accept even a fraction of you authority, you ancient fool?" But, of course, there's always a fool who wants the whole pie when offered a piece of it without a dagger within, Haggra thought, leaning back and watching lazily as the inevitable violence ensued.

She suspected that Ko-dorr planned for the upstart's attitude, in fact, the ancient yeleth had probably counted on it for a necessary show of force. She wasn't disappointed at the emperor raised his hand and Dastral doubled over, a thin red gruel slipping out of the younger yeleth's teeth. She watched dispassionately as the patriarchs flesh lost its cohesion, sagging off his bones and spilling across the floor as a red gooey substance.

"Is there anyone else that would oppose the house of law?" Ko-dorr's question and unspoken ultimatum were greeted by silence. "Then the lands and territories that would have been allocated to the House of Dastral will be divided up among you. You are dismissed." Haggra was pensive as she and the other patriarchs stood to leave, for the rules of the game had changed, but the stakes remain the same as they had before.

*************

He didn't know what he was fighting, or even who he was; all he knew was that he had to fight, or else he'd fade. The presence, the entity that he had always fought...Was it always? He had no memories of a time before this... faltered, its strength weakening enough to allow him access to the other parts of the consciousness. He touched a... past? Memories of a life, one that seemed almost alien to the non-stop struggle for control that was his existence, and a girl with blue eyes and pale brown fur.

"Tikal!" He uttered, mismatched memories flooded back, almost overwhelming him, but ultimately galvanising his will.

"You stole my life!" He shrieked, the words not passing his lips as the presence gritted their mouth, digging in its defences.

"You started the war!" The accusation was hurled, and the presence felt indignant

"Started THAT war? I, the great Vichama, would never have orchestrated such a disorganised mess as that. It was merely a convenient means of pressuring my high priest into assisting in my manifestation. And you should be honoured that I, an almighty god, chose to use you as my avatar, you pathetic excuse for a host." Although the words were strong, the presence' hold over the body felt tenuous. Khalac didn't bother to reply, he simply focussed as much will as possible to forcing the presence out.

"I know you're weakening, echidna," This comment held a ring of truth, as Khalac was indeed exhausting his reserves of will, but he also knew that the 'god' was almost out of chaos power. He sensed the innate connection between vast amounts of chaos energy and the manifestation of a deity's power. He also had a nagging feeling he was missing something, but at the time he couldn't spare the time to think about it.

The struggle went on for minutes, although from his perception it felt like days.

Finally, when his reserves were almost depleted when the presence said; "Since you want to have this body so much, mortal, I'll allow you to keep it." Khalac was so relieved he failed to notice the particular emphasis and tone the god had used, if he had he might have been a bit more wary of what was to come.

With that the presence was gone so instantaneously that Khalac collapsed to the floor, so unused to being in control of his own body that his bladder relieved itself unbidden.

He cursed about this, his speech slurred as he struggled to regain full control of his body, which began prickle painfully in every place. He tried to determine the source of the pain, but couldn't discern anything. The pain intensified inside his stomach, which felt like something was tearing its way out. The red furred echidna curled up into a foetal position, trying to will the pain away so he could focus on what he needed to do. This became extremely difficult as his stomach burst bloodily open as a tentacle tore its way out and split into two, each end opening to reveal row upon row of teeth. The pain spread to other areas, and Khalac realised, even in his agony, that his body was being torn apart by mutation. Vichama had left him with just enough chaos energy stored within his body to mutate every part of it. He realised that only a god could truly control the vast amounts of chaos energy needed to become a god, and now he was suffering the warped humour of the war god.

He tried as hard as he could to summon up the memories of his past, focussing on the one he held dearest, but was unable to cry out her name as he died, for his voice box had already begun to mutate, along with his jaws and tongue.

_Hi, it's me again. Yeah, I yet live. Anyway, here's chapter thirteen after a long wait. I took great pleasure (as I always do) in horribly killing Khalac (I know he didn't do anything wrong, I just like killing off my creations before the story ends.)_

_Please note, this does indicate a trend in my storywriting. If a character isn't part of the core cast, they will **die **a horribly painful death, just to satisfy my personal desires of torment for my creations._


	14. Chapter 14: Krunquick Returns

Fifteen years later

Many of the townsfolk (and the term town was used loosely) found their gazes drawn to the during the night, as a brilliant green shooting star fell to the ground, lighting up the sky to the north of the settlement. The next day almost nobody was brave enough to investigate, apart from a young hedgehog with particularly rigid spines took up a dare to find out what had caused the incident. He was surprised to find a glowing brilliant cut emerald, but couldn't approach due to the extreme nausea he felt when he got too close.

He decided to wait and see if the sickening effect got weaker, and as the glow faded he was able to approach and finally retrieve the emerald. He returned triumphantly, much to the frustration of some of his fellows, particularly since he chose not to surrender the crystal when asked.

However, his friends weren't the only ones interested in the gem.

*************

The antechamber was stiflingly warm, or so the Oracle felt right now. He ran through his speech again, just to be sure. If he somehow offended the emperor, or simply failed to get across his idea, he'd be forced to remain in servitude for as long as he lived, and with his extended life span it could be a very long time. A young Yeleth in servants garb then walked out of the office; glanced around until he caught the hunched form seated in the corner then bowed.

"His majesty will see you now." The servant then held the door open as the seer hobbled over.

It had taken hours to gain an audience with the emperor, ever since the war had ended Krunquick's own usefulness, and therefore status, had diminished. He'd endured the interminable wait because it offered the best chance he had of freedom, although he wouldn't tell his master of that detail.

As he entered the door he found himself yet again face to face with Ko-dorr. The recent diminishment of status hadn't affected the aura of malice and raw power that the lord of the house of justice exuded, nor had it truly diminished the fear that the unfortunate oracle still held for him. He painfully knelt before the emperor, knowing that Ko-dorr still demanded many of the respects that he'd enjoyed when he had ruled alone amongst the Yeleth before they'd been banished here. Now he only directly ruled this single city, Delphius, while most of his own soldiers were spread out across the continent, enforcing local laws and customs.

"What is it you wished to discuss, seer?" Ko-dorr's tone was bored, as the current affairs of their pocket universe were tedious, as much as Krunquick's repeated requests for an audience.

Right to it "Milord, ever since the war we have known nothing of what has been happening on the other world." Part of the reason for his de facto exile was the fact that he'd been unable to penetrate the barrier between dimensions with his visions. "I also know that unless we can find some means of weakening them prior to our assault, the echidnas will be ready for us." All of these statements were more of a reiteration of the obvious and the expression of the emperor's face forced the seer to say hurriedly "I know that you've discovered how to traverse between this plane and our old world. I'm not much use to you here, and offer to be your agent in that realm." None of this exactly came out as the Oracle had planned, and it was obvious to him that his master saw his intentions as well. He bowed his head.

"Your motives are transparent to me, seer." The emperor said coldly, and for what seemed like an eternity nothing was said "However, your point, however crude and... insincere, are correct." Krunquick's heart leapt "However, I cannot send through a large force until I have amassed sufficient energy. You shall be on your own for a long time."

"How long?" Asked the seer, not really concerned

"There is no word in our language for it, although the echidnas would reckon the time in millennia." Ahh yes, a minor consequence of their physiological differences, the echidnas number system ascended in tens rather than eights, because, unlike all other mobian species, the echidna race had five digits on their hands rather than eight. Krunquick mused at this for a second before his master continued. "There is the issue of communication, however." Suddenly the Oracle went cold. He had been dreading this. "I will teach you a sell that will allow you to contact me whenever you deem it needful, and I will expect reports every four years. I shall also be able to contact you, in order to inform you when the time has come to begin your sabotage campaign in earnest immediately before our glorious return to the old world."

Krunquick sigh. It was clear his chains were never truly going to be gone, merely loosened. He'd take the freedom that had been offered, however. He didn't really have any choice but to carefully pay attention as the emperor explained the nature of the spell.

*************

Meleste, adoptee of clan Knuckles sighed as she waited beside the landing hatch of the transport boat that was making its way to the mainland. A few minutes ago she'd been spending another dull day of training along with the other guardians when out of the blue a message had arrived claiming to have found one of the missing chaos reactors. The young echidna guardian, just ten years old had been overjoyed when she'd been selected to assist in the retrieval of the reactor.

Then the 'real' soldiers arrived, all of them full adults, and explained that she was there to observe a full scale operation, then assist in the training of the other guardians. It had only been her trained discipline that had kept her from openly protesting against this injustice. Had she not spent every day of her life training for a mission like this? It seemed a shameful waste of her abilities to send her in a strictly observational capacity.

"Prepare for landing!" Roared a demon voiced non-commissioned officer, as the landing hatch came down, revealing an unremarkable beach completely devoid of intelligent life. "The reactor fell about fifteen miles inland, hop to it soldiers!"

Meleste groaned at the idea of running for fifteen miles at marching pace, but also at the comment. "But the map said that the settlement was a fishing village." She remembered it quite clearly, the village that they were targeting was certainly a fishing village when the map had been made.

"Used to be," Said a helpful dirty blonde echidna soldier "But since Urachii sank the shoreline pulled back, so a lot of Mobius has had a draught or had to adapt to new conditions. Makes sense, after all, that was a lot of land."

The young guardian didn't reply, instead busied herself with staying close to the rest of the echidnas, cursing under her breath all the way.

*************

The plan had been to use the emeralds energy as a beacon, so Krunquick could sneak in and use his skills and magic to steal the chaos emeralds and escape. Unfortunately there was a measure of imprecision involved, and there was a chance that the luckless seer might teleport into a wall, into the middle of a group of enemies or, in this case, five feet above the ground. The crippled yeleth howled in pain as his crooked legs folded beneath him, unable to take the impact with the ground. He looked around with tear blurred vision before noticing a group of buildings to his left. He cleared his eyes and began the agonising struggle to his feet taking a closer look as he gritted his teeth. It was a large village, or a small town, which was radiating a steady but not overwhelming glow of chaos emeralds. At the moment the chaos energy had yet to manifest on the visible spectrum, but it would cause mutation within the townsfolk if left wherever it was being kept.

Not that Krunquick cared, but he couldn't help but think about leverage as he approached stealthily. He knew better than to trust fate... given his luck this town was probably an echidna base, and they were merely keeping the emeralds for a short time until they could move them somewhere more secure. He briefly wondered how the echidnas had survived the cataclysm, since his own people had enslaved or killed all the echidnas on the continent aside from those within the city, which was almost certainly destroyed when the sphere of white light burned everything in its path. All that had been left where the city had stood in the yelethi pocket dimension was a gigantic crater.

Suddenly a voice interrupted Krunquick's musing, its tone interrogative. He looked around frantically and saw a species of mobian he'd never seen before. The creature asked the same question again, although the seer still couldn't understand what he was asking. He raised his hands in a placating gesture and flinched when the creature, a young steely grey hedgehog shouted in its unfamiliar tongue.

"I come in peace," The oracle said desperately, then gave up as the mobian gave him an uncomprehending look. He felt a rising dread as the primitive pulled a bronze knife out of his boot and held if towards his throat.

_Well, here's the return of Krunquick. Just his luck to land right in front of a barbarian who cannot speak his language, eh?_


	15. Chapter 15: The Oracle of Delphius

Asthesian the hedgehog held his weapon close as the creature babbled in a tongue he didn't understand. However, the fact that it was foreign explained its unusual appearance. There were many species of Mobian, some, the more widely travelled members of his village had told him, some of which he wouldn't believe existed unless he saw them. The creature gibbering before him was a good example, now if only he could get him to shut up.

"Quiet!" He growled in a low, firm voice. When this had the desired effect he continued. "What are you?" Unfortunately, the hunched creature merely looked at him with an uncomprehending expression. He then remembered that the elders said to talk loudly and clearly when talking to foreigners. "WHAT! ARE! YOU!?" He demanded and was rewarded with a change in expression although it immediately became clear it wasn't comprehension on its face.

"Asthesian, what is this you've found?" He heard the voice of a friend of his, Swined the pig, calling out.

The hedgehog growled in frustration "I have no idea. It something I've never seen before and it's not from around here. It refuses to talk in a civilised language." As he said this he turned from the creature in disgust, confident it wouldn't try anything now that it was outnumbered. The pig kept his gaze on the crippled looking creature and came up beside the hedgehog.

"Hmm, let me try," Swined then raised his voice "WHERE! ARE! YOU! FROM!?" If Asthesian had been looking at the alien looking creature he would have seen the look on the beings face and killed it, but his friend was too engrossed in shouting at the unfortunate foreigner to notice, so the only warning he got was the feeling like his skull split in several places. He collapsed, screaming, also hearing the accompanying squeals of his friend distantly. The moment seemed to stretch out for an eternity, his body relieving itself in his agony. Then, as suddenly as the pain had arrived, it was gone.

"I'm sorry about that, I've never done that before. I hope it didn't hurt too much." Came a high, yet cracked voice. It was then that Asthesian realised his was curled up in a foetal position in a puddle of his own urine.

"H-how did you do that?" He heard Swined ask as he turned to see the apologetic face of the alien.

"I reached into your minds and learned your language. I didn't do it subtly, but then, I'm not particularly experienced with... oh damn, your language doesn't have the word for it. In my language, however, it's called telepathy." The cripple's expression then took a weary cast "And before you ask; no, I couldn't have warned you."

"Who... What are you?" The iron grey hedgehog demand, getting up from the floor and trying to distance himself from the stinking puddle.

"Hmmm, my kind are called the Yeleth, and we are not from around here. As to who I am: I'm the Oracle of Delphius, a mighty city of the Yeleth."

"What's an oracle?" His porcine friend asked incredulously

"An oracle is an individual capable of seeing the future." The creature as though this was obvious.

Asthesian briefly considered keeping this new creature a secret, and using its skills to his advantage, but decided against it. His father often said that everything happened for a reason, and that the discovery of the glowing emerald was a portent of great things for his people. It would help if the chieftain could use this oracles powers to get a clue on what those 'great things' were.

As the youthful hedgehog opened his mouth the yeleth interrupted him "I've always wanted to say something like this: Take me to your leader." The oracle then got a dreamy look of satisfaction in his eyes "Yes. That felt as good saying it as thinking about it."

*************

His hedgehog guide said chieftain was a elderly dog of some kind, apparently a pedigree, greyhound apparently, although Krunquick had to honestly admit to himself that he couldn't tell the difference between one variety of mobian subspecies or another. He only partially paid heed as the hedgehog introduced his chieftain and important members of his 'court', as most of his attention was focussed on his surroundings, so he occasionally muttered the appropriate responses without thinking. It was somewhat unnerving to find a room that looked almost exactly like the original court of his master, Ko-dorr, so dark, lit only by several fires set into alcoves in the wall. The roof was held up by wooden pillars, carved with a curving pattern reminiscent of blades of grass.

"Why are you here?" The question, so direct, caught Krunquick off guard. He looked at the chieftain, taking note of the heavy furs in which the creature was practically cocooned in.

Krunquick struggled to come up with a means of explaining his cause that wouldn't wind up with him getting impaled on those nasty looking bronze spears that some of the more burly mobians were holding, some of them levelled at him.

"I... ah... I came searching for the chaos emerald." This got blank looks from many of the people within the hall, an interlude which Krunquick seized upon in order to strengthen his case. He didn't bother to explain what a chaos emerald was, or how he knew it was here. After all, he was an oracle. "A large group of echidnas are searching for them, and a terrible future will occur if they are able to acquire it." As he finished, it began to dawn on some of the mobians, the ones who'd actually seen it, what he was talking about.

The chieftain gave him a concerned look "I see, and what is this future which you speak of?" Ah, the snag. He'd just made it up on the spot. If his acting was even the slightest bit wrong he was shish-kebab.

He thought fast "Perhaps predictably, the echidnas will use the emerald to enforce their dominion over the entire world." He said calmly, as a portion of his mind desperately searched the timelines for the inevitable arrival of a party searching for the emerald. "Their race became so arrogant that the gods sank their continent beneath the waves. Since then they've been dominating the lands surrounding their colonies on this one. They've also discovered how to use the chaos emeralds to empower their warriors." This was the point that really got the chieftains attention, and within the new attentive gaze was both greed and fear combined. "If they get their hands on one, they will be able to dominate the whole continent!" He wasn't entirely sure how many emeralds had been required to create the demon that had been banished along with his people, but it always paid to prepare for the worst.

There was a long silence within the hall, until an adolescent voice piped up "So we could use the emerald to empower our own warriors?" Krunquick turned in shock to the hedgehog whose eyes radiated a hunger for power that caused the seer to painfully remember the look his master had on his face when he'd learned of the chaos emeralds energy. He had to head this off immediately.

"Perhaps, except I don't know how, and frankly, I don't think I'd trust anyone to use that kind of power wisely." This was completely true, although he had a fair idea of how it happened and although he was fairly certain he wouldn't use the power wisely he'd damn well do it better than this young upstart.

The hedgehog opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as a dog similar to the chieftain, but younger and only sporting leather shoes, gloves and a spear, crashed into the room.

"Father, hundreds of creatures are approaching the village. Fast!" There was a massive intake of breath from the warriors. "They carry strange devices and don't look like any mobian I've ever seen."

Perfect. "Echidnas. They've found it sooner than I thought possible." Krunquick said truthfully, although, he corrected himself, he didn't really have any idea how long they'd been searching for it, so they could have been searching for months.

*************

Captain Icholas raised his hand to indicate a halt. The reclamation force didn't immediately respond, as the echidnas fanned out and took the best defensive positions they could find among the brush and small clumps of trees. In other, more disciplinarian cultures this would have been cracked down upon, but Icholas didn't comment. In fact he was pleased that his echidnas didn't leave themselves exposed to counterattack. In a few seconds the only obviously visible echidnas were the five veterans assigned to guard him and the guardian, Meleste, who closed the gap between her and Icholas before the crowd cleared.

Icholas directed his full attention forward, to the large town ahead. He entertained a brief sneer of disdain at the primitive construction and lack of planning shown by the graceless style of the settlement. He was also confident that his feelings were shared by the other echidnas in his retinue as they too examined the mobian town from their positions.

"Are we going to simply take the reactor?" Meleste said, interrupting his superior feelings and reminding him of his job.

The captain gave serious consideration to it, as his soldiers were better equipped by far, and the guardian he'd requisitioned would make for a formidable ally. However, judging by the size of the town his soldiers would be outnumbered five to one and the random, poorly planned layout of the buildings would make it very difficult to predict where the next counterattack would come from.

"No, we'll negotiate with them." Icholas replied glumly. He wasn't about to start a bloodbath when he couldn't be certain he'd win. "Jucha, Meleste, Iqusubo you're with me. Narlek, keep the soldiers from doing anything precipitous. We don't want to start a war." The dull brown echidna with dyed white dreadlocks nodded and went to join one of the units concealed in the shrubs nearest to the town before them. "Alright, let's go meet the locals." The officer said grimly.

"Damn, that sounded like a cliché from one of those really old books...uhh sir!" Meleste amended her statement as the officer glared at her.

There was a long pause before the captain finally said: "Let's go."

_Sorry about the lateness. So, here's the first meeting between the Oracle and Sonic's ancestor. Not exactly off to a good start are they?_


	16. Chapter 16: Negotiations

The party approached under a flag of truce, but even so Meleste felt uneasy. Her companions seemed utterly impassive, walking directly for the largest structure in the city, ignoring the various creatures that came out of their houses to stare at these intruders. It was strange, particularly as there was no uniformity in their appearance. The sheer diversity of shapes and sizes disturbed the young guardian, who was used to the more subtle differences in appearances between echidnas. She kept glancing around, checking the buildings which, like their builders, varied wildly in structure, building materials and even design. The girl had a hard time preventing herself from moving faster than the slow, deliberate parade speed of the other soldiers. Icholas and the others seemed completely unmoved by their surroundings, something which surprised her. She couldn't help but stare back at the freakish beasts around her.

"And there's our destination." Icholas said calmly, focusing Meleste's attention forward and towards the wooden hall. The building was large, but far from impressive, particularly to the guardian who had grown up in the still standing skyscrapers of the floating island. The girl was gratified when one of the other soldiers snorted in disgust.

"They're primitive, but they outnumber us by at least ten one." The captain cautioned, although Meleste didn't take him seriously, each echidna soldier was worth ten of these creatures in a fight. "We're in the middle of their city, so keep a lid on your distaste Iqusubo."

They stopped until the soldier muttered an affirmative, at which point they continued on to the barn sized building. As they approached the door they were stopped by two spear armed mobian creatures, both roughly a head and a half taller than all of the echidnas, one of whom slightly trembled as he raised his hand.

It was the other who spoke up in a challenging, slightly insulting, tone. "What is your business with our chief?"

"A crystal which originated in our lands may have come to be here, and we seek your lords aid in reclaiming it." The captain responded cooly, causing the guardian to stare at the more experienced soldier. He must have noticed, since he glanced briefly at her and gave her an infinitesimal shake of the head, along with an expression that said "not now!"

The guard mulled that over, before finally saying "Uh, I'd better tell the chief about this." He then opened the door and swaggered in, his apparent confidence unbroken.

"We'll wait back a bit." Icholas said easily to the other guard, who seemed relieved that the echidnas were giving him some room.

"Why'd you do that boss?" Meleste hissed as they got a few feet away

The captain didn't respond, instead Jucha, an old veteran from the cataclysm, spoke up "Diplomacy, kid. You don't reveal all the answers right away. If you give away too much the Mobians might realise how valuable the emerald is. This way they'll think it's some sort of precious heirloom to some echidna king, instead of a potential weapon."

"Thank you, Jucha. That was very informative. Actually, I just felt that they didn't deserve to know that we already found it in this town and that we're going to tear it up to find it. It'll be easier if we can convince them to do it for us." Icholas replied with a grin.

Their discussion was interrupted by the return of the other guard who yelled "Oi, foreigners, the chief says that it's okay for you to come in." With this the echidnas quietly entered (with Meleste directing an especially venomous glare at the offensive guard)

The inside hardly inspire awe, in fact the term 'barn' described the inside as well as the outside, filled as it was by various farmyard creatures. About the only things that looked respectable were the hedgehog, who was an appropriately spiney creature, and the very troubling sight of what appeared to be a Yeleth, standing beside the throne like a trusted advisor.

"Well, I guess that's plan A out the window." The girl murmured to herself as she struggled to remember the historical archives on the echidna's worst foes as Jucha let out a muffled groan.

*************

The look of dismay on the echidnas faces was almost enough to make it worthwhile, almost, but not quite, as he still had to ensure that they didn't get their hands on the chaos emerald here. Once he'd secured the situation here he'd set up a more permanent base of operations, away from the emerald here that overwhelmed his ability to detect the energy of other chaos emeralds.

The Oracle looked closely at the echidnas, who, he sensed, had decided not to reveal the history between their shared people. As he looked more closely at their minds he sensed that the red female was almost deaf to his psychic probes, and the old one was particularly resistant. This didn't matter, since it was the captain he was truly interested in. It took all his self discipline not to leap for joy when he discovered that they had decided to play the chaos emerald down as a mere bauble. This deception would only make his task easier, and he slowly withdrew his mental probe and shifted into his temporal perspective, searching for the larger echidna forces the mobian had mentioned earlier. It didn't take long for him to discover find them, less than ten minutes ago, breaking formation and hiding in the mess of bushes and trees just outside of town. He filed that information away for later, returned to the present and began to look closely at the faces of the echidnas in the hall.

He could practically feel the contempt of the echidnas in the room. It didn't look like hatred, in fact the main feeling he was getting from the echidnas was disdain for the mobians, a self disgust at before forced to deal with what they felt was a lesser species. Only when they looked directly at him did he see anything resembling anger, and only really from the old one.

He kept an eye on the chieftain's response to the pleasantries: "You're not telling us the whole truth, outsiders. The oracle of Delphius informed us that the emeralds were instruments of great power, and that you seek them to restore your nation." This wasn't exactly how he'd said it, but Krunquick supposed that to a barbaric culture such as the mobians 'rebuilding' actually meant 'conquering new lands'.

"That's impossible, not even the power of the gem could bring back our lands." The captain said sadly. This, of course, was untrue, but whether it was spoken out of an ignorance of the true power of the chaos emeralds, or because the echidnas suspected the return of the Yeleth, he couldn't tell.

"You understate the extent of the power of the chaos emeralds combined." He said enigmatically, mainly for the petty joy of watching the renewed frustration in the lead echidnas face.

The echidna audibly ground his teeth before carrying on. "The gem also radiates a mutating energy that can transform life forms in close proximity. The energy also causes children to be born misshapen or mutated. Only we can contain this energy." And here was the issue he had to counter. Krunquick had assumed that a culture like this was superstitious, and evidence had already proven amongst the Yeleth that superstitious people viewed physical deformities as an ill omen.

"We only have your claims on that." Krunquick said, although it sounded weak, even to him. While mutation was unknown amongst the Yeleth people, careless use of magic could sometimes do strange things to happen to a mages surroundings.

"Hah, shows what you know. That's why your chief should ensure that the chaos reactor gets in the hands of a people who can handle it." The younger echidna said in a gloating tone which caused her leader to slap his palm into his face.

'Thank the gods for children.' Krunquick thought with joy as the courts hostility grew predictably. If they kept this up his job would be a lot easier.

*************

Asthesian only dimly noticed the events occurring in the throne room, his attention dulled with boredom. The echidnas were mildly interesting when they first appeared, but the conversation they shared with the chieftain was similar to most adult conversations. In fact his mind was mostly occupied with thoughts of the chaos emerald. The idea of gaining powers enthralled him: With them he could make his family truly notable, rather than merely serving their un-ambitious chieftain. He glanced at the alien creature, the only one who really interested him. Its powers were strange and wonderful at the same time, and appealed to his curiosity.

'What would I do if I had such powers?' He thought idly to himself. 'Would I even want those powers?' He glanced around looking at his elders in turn. He honestly just wanted to be better than the rest of the people in this room. He was intelligent enough to discard the adolescent self assurance of superiority, but that didn't mean he would ever pass up an opportunity to become superior.

As these thoughts ran through his mind he noticed the meeting turn sour, the comments traded between the emissaries and the chief's friends becoming increasingly vehement. He then began to edge his way towards the door to where the chaos emerald remained safely under guard. However, he stopped dead when he felt the burning sensation of someone watching him. He frantically cast his gaze about searching for the observer, only to discover the Oracle staring at him with a speculative expression. He was about to put it off when he saw the crooked creature nod fractionally. He didn't bother to question the motives of the alien; he simply decided to hasten his approach to the emerald.


	17. Chapter 17: Screwing Up

Chapter Seventeen

Meleste cursed inwardly as soon as she spoke up, silently berating herself as her words caused the temperature of the room to seemingly drop fifty degrees.

The look on the chieftain's face was thunderous "Are you insulting my intelligence, child?" the tone was challenging, and Meleste began an intense study of her feet, and for a few seconds there was silence before the chief spoke again, "I suggest you keep your offspring from getting ideas beyond her station, echidna."

The young guardian ground her teeth audibly in an effort to suppress a curse, nobody did anything. Even captain Icholas said nothing in defence of her actions. After a short while longer the chieftain once again spoke, and this time his tone was anything but amicable.

"You have lied to me, firstly about the nature of the chaos emeralds and their extent of power, secondly about the nature of your expedition." The chieftain raised his hand as the captain was about to protest "You failed to reveal that you have two hundred echidnas concealed in the hills above my city. Therefore you lied by omission of a critical detail."

Meleste was about to leap forward, but Jucha grabbed her by the shoulder and whispered: "Not yet."

"You will leave, and count yourselves lucky I didn't have you gutted for your deceit." The elderly dog said firmly. Meleste stared daggers at the chieftain, which were duly ignored.

The captain wasn't to be deterred, however. "We can't do that, the reactor is critical to our survival."

"So you can use them against us? We may not be able to use it ourselves, but you've proven you cannot be trusted with that level of power." Why couldn't this barbarian understand? Why did he have to be so obstructively stupid? "You test my patience, echidna. Leave now, while you still have the limbs to do it."

None of the echidnas budged an inch and various mobian warriors readied their spears and daggers for a fight. The chieftain stood up, himself picking up a bronze tipped spear that had lain unnoticed on the floor beside his throne.

"This is your last chance." The dog said calmly as he pointed his spear at them.

Meleste half-crouched, ready spring at the warriors on her side, the room almost buzzing with tension as the two groups seemed ready to fight to the death. The uneasy silence lasted for one of those timeless instants just before a fight.

"Very well, we'll go." Icholas complied quietly

"What? Why?" The young guardian demanded incredulously

"You can't be serious!" Jucha pleaded

Icholas turned and began to leave "We're leaving, now!" The last word had the tone of an order, and the other soldiers turned to follow. Meleste hesitated, but went after them.

"Why are you doing this?" The young guardian demanded when they were halfway out of town. Icholas didn't abate his pace, but fixed her with a steady glare. "Sir!" She amended

"Not here, wait until we're back to the others."

*************

Vichama was displeased, not because anything had gone particularly wrong, but because his divine essence was yet again confined to the realm of chaos. Like always, the reactors that his servant Ventreles had made were visible as dark points throughout the realm, but unfortunately nobody was willing to use them in the fashion that had allowed him to walk the physical world since Khalac. He didn't search desperately, after all, he was an immortal god so time meant little to him, but he was anxious to kill and maim once more.

This thought brought a warm glow to the war god's spirit and this sense of satisfaction caused him to nearly miss when someone attempted to use a chaos reactor. The being was attempting to use the gem to boost his abilities, but the emerald was beginning to cause mutations. The god leapt at the chance, however, using his divine power to direct the mutations so the hedgehog would change into a form suitable for carrying him. The young boys formerly brown fur turned a royal purple colour, and his quills, which had originally all stuck out straight gathered into eight distinct sets, two on his back and six coming from his head. That was something he didn't bother to control, because Vichama didn't mind appearances as long as the bodies capabilities were sufficient. This was why Vichama set to increasing the capacity of this mobians mind, along with altering his body so it would be stronger than most other life forms. There was only so much he could do, because a single chaos reactor wasn't enough to perform the drastic changes in ability he'd used last time. Of course, once he got settled into his new body (by killing everyone within a hundred mile radius) he'd be able to find and seize the gems for himself.

This process lasted for a few more seconds, before the enhancive effects of his change stopped increasing. The god frantically tried to get the power increase started again, but there simply wasn't enough power, the hedgehog had broken its connection with the gem, preventing his continued alteration. The changes meant Vichama could track him, but it was hardly worth possessing him in a body that was merely super mobian.

Why hadn't he been able to sense the creatures decision to stop, he should have known, he should have stopped the hedgehog from breaking contact.

In his frustration he failed to notice an astral borne consciousness carefully retreating back into the physical world, its hunched form shrouded in an image of a blue/black cloak.

*************

The old chieftain sagged back into his throne, going over the details of the meeting as the hall again filled with the meaningless noise of various notables chattering away. He seemed disappointed that the first contact with such a legendary species had gone so badly, particularly as their technology meant his people could be in a real danger if this started a protracted war.

"Oracle, I have a favour to ask of you." The old greyhound asked politely, something which was a bit of a shock to the yeleth, who'd always dealt with curt demands rather than requests in the past.

"What is it?" he asked suspiciously

"Will you continue to advise the leaders of this city in the future? I fear that if the echidnas choose to go to war over this we'd fall before their superior technology." This made sense, since it had been the same problem the Yeleth had been forced to overcome.

The oracle felt a thrill of amusement which he didn't hide and said: "Well, I suppose I should tell you that the echidnas will probably attack tonight?"

"What? Are you sure? How do you know?" The old mobian was surprised

"Common sense!" The oracle answered tritely "They aren't about to let the emerald slip through their grasp, chieftain. It's too important to them."

The old dog looked troubled "What do you suggest, in reference to the defence of our home?"

"I'd recommend you prepare to assault them shortly when their leader gets back, while they're reorganising their own offensive." Krunquick had seen enough wars to think he knew a thing or two about it.

"Very well, but how will we know exactly when to strike?" Krunquick sympathised with his concern, since a few minutes off one way or the other would have him attacking a well prepared opponent with a considerable terrain advantage.

"I happen to be a professional when it comes to these things." The yeleth said proudly. It was then that the hedgehog reappeared, unnoticed by everyone save for the chaos sensitive oracle, who refrained from announcing him. He kept one eye on the altered young mobian even as he heard the chief continue.

"I see... I think I know how to deal with the brush so their cover won't mean much either."

The Oracle leant on his staff, trying to glean what was going on in the creatures mind. What he saw repulsed him. While both his people and the echidnas had used such methods, the thought that such a primitive, childlike culture such as this be willing to burn the brush was disturbing, especially as he'd never personally advocated such methods. If the echidnas didn't get out of there in time they'd burn with the rest of the dumb animals.

"A-are you sure that's necessary?" Krunquick asked in a sick tone.

"I've fought in wars, so I know that you should get as many parts of the battle going your way before the fighting starts. The fire's more to disorganise them than actually kill them. Nobody is foolish enough to stay in a burning thicket, so they will run and my men can take them as they flee." The Mobian had a schoolteacher sort of look on his face, "It's all about the timing, of course, because setting the fires too early will allow them to regroup and defeat us, but if we're in position we'll be able to grab them."

The Yeleth had often wondered how the echidnas had held for so long against the sorcery of his people before the exile, and now it became clear to him why. The yelethi never planned their battles in advance, they simply charged in, relying on superior numbers and magical prowess to win the day. Clearly the echidnas had fought using the same principles the chieftain, and obviously this 'planning' had made their armies far more effective than the simply irregular rushes of their own people. Krunquick filed this idea away for the future, as it may be more useful to his master than Mobius' remaining chaos emeralds. Both he and the old canine noticed that Asthesian was nearby, eavesdropping on their conversation.

The old dog spoke up before the hedgehog could even pretend to not be paying attention "Tell me, young warrior, do you have anything to add to our plans? Perhaps you've come to tell me what caused the change in your colouration?" The seer could tell that the chieftain had already guessed what had happened. "Or, just maybe, you've come to offer to lead the group that's setting the fires?" It wasn't a question. Whoever went on that mission would have to endure a thankless, risky task against an opponent who was better equipped and trained. "Good luck on your mission, child, I await your bonfire with great anticipation." The way he emphasised this last sentence left no doubt about the intent behind those orders.

Asthesian said nothing, he simply coolly nodded and turned before going to out pick up some friends that would comprise his 'team'. Krunquick knew that during the war prior to the cataclysm the yelethi had used the same practice, often choosing trusted friends over elite soldiers. He just hoped that the young hedgehog made the right choices, since they'd affect his future success in taking over as chieftain.

*************

Outside the city, the diplomatic party had returned. The greeting weren't exactly effusive, just the occasional nods of various soldiers acknowledging the presence of their superior in the field, but it was enough to reassure Meleste that they knew they hadn't mutinied.

"So we're going to attack?" She asked

"Not all of us. Most of us will be withdrawing right now, while a small team will infiltrate the city and retrieve the emerald." The captain replied as he searched for an echidna equipped with a communicator. "The presence of that yeleth changes everything and we can't count on the mobians not doing something silly, but, also, we can't afford to let the chaos emerald slip through our away." He finally found who he was looking for, a dark brown echidna that Meleste didn't know with the appropriate equipment set up and tapped him on the shoulder. The soldier surrendered the mouthpiece and switched his gear onto a command frequency, then nodded to Icholas who said "Narlek, I want to you to take a team and infiltrate the town below us, I'll give you the guardian to help out." Meleste's heart leapt as he said this, and it showed enough that Icholas turned to her and said "Looks like you'll get an honest to gods combat mission after all guardian. I hope you're up to it."

_Not as good as the others, but then it's after the events which I set out to do. My god, cleaning up loose ends is taking a while. Anyway here's a kid making a mess of things, just like kids sometimes do. Not exactly fanfiction norm, but it happens. Anyway, work is really starting to bite into the time I'd reserve for writing, so it's getting harder and harder to find the time to do this. I'll try to finish it._


	18. Chapter 18: The Cycle of History

Getting into the city unnoticed hadn't been hard, despite the fact that the night was cloudless and it was the full moon. The main difficulty was that the kid guardian was so difficult to rein in. She was frustratingly insistent that she could seize the emerald herself, which, if the rumours of guardian abilities were true, she probably could.

But lieutenant Narlek remained adamant for three reasons. The first was strategic, he and, by extension, the rest of the seven echidna team needed her guidance into the city, and they couldn't afford to have her running off without some backup. The second was he'd dread to imagine what would happen to his career if a guardian, who was supposed to be there in a strictly observatory role, would die or be captured under his command. The third was more personal: He didn't believe children should be pushed into service, which was his personal objection to the entire guardian program. Technically they hadn't been recruited, they'd been born into the role, but it still rubbed him the wrong way that he was now taking a child into a combat zone.

He was broken out of his navel gazing by the whispered voice of the girl "We go right here." Narlek checked where Meleste had indicated.

Just as she'd pointed out, the hall of the chief was there, down a long, wide and mercifully cluttered street. He then signalled the soldiers to make their way towards the entrance, which seemed to be guarded by just two guards. Just before the echidnas were about to get within attack range with their silenced guns the sound of marching feet caused the echidnas to hide in the shadows of the various market stalls and carelessly discarded crates. Narlek watched carefully as the crude leather boots of mobian soldiers thumped past, which disturbed him more than normal. Why would there be patrols in force around the city? The obvious answer was that the mobians had suspected that something exactly like this would happen. It would be safe to assume that most of the element of surprise was gone then. He waited for the patrol to pass and then poked his head out from behind the crate he'd been using for cover. The two guards outside the palace seemed to be alert, but that didn't matter as they both fell swiftly and silently with two precise shots from his pistol.

He checked the area for hostiles then clicked his fingers twice as the all clear signal and directed his squad to take up positions outside the front door of the chieftain's hall. He did a brief headcount and noticed that the guardian was missing. The officer frantically cast his gaze about, only to spot her half way up the side of the building, using her claws to aid in her ascent. The lieutenant curse under his breath and ordered the troops initiate a standard breaching plan. Four of the echidnas took up positions next to the door, two each side. The fifth moved up and set a charge on the wall even as Narlek himself took up position along with the pair on the left hand side of the door. The echidna at the door fled to the right hand side as the charge began beeping a rapid countdown followed by a quiet detonation and, simultaneously, the crash of wood and glass broken by impact. All six of the echidnas briefly covered their heads as splinters flew through the air after the explosion, then the echidnas closest to leaned out of the sides of the door and began firing at any mobians that were quick enough to respond. After a few seconds the echidna on the left side of the door indicated that the way was clear to move forward and all the echidnas advanced.

Narlek then noticed that most of the mobians had died with their spears in hand, probably caught completely off guard by the suddenness of the assault, and where the spears had been thrown they had gone in entirely the wrong direction, all pointing towards the back of the chamber. He followed their direction and saw the kid guardian leaning nonchalantly next to a broken window.

"Thanks for the help. I'd have been in a real bind if they'd had the chance to really get stuck in." With this the girl grinned triumphantly as she indicated a spear that was stuck almost straight into the wooden wall.

"Let's just get the reactor and get out of here." The lieutenant said grumpily, "You two!" He pointed at the two soldiers nearest the door. "Guard the door in case any natives get curious. You," He pointed at the girl "will keep an eye on that window. Everyone else, search the place."

*************

The violet hedgehog covered his mouth as the smoke and heat became unbearable. His group hadn't found any echidnas fleeing the flames, although they did find signs that the area had been hastily evacuated. Even so his men had set fire to the forest anyway, as anybody with even mildly pyromanic leanings would do if given the slightest incentive.

"That's it! We're leaving." The young leader coughed furiously.

"But Asthesian, if they get away they might come back for us." Swined said, his porcine eyes screwed up in the smoke.

"It's clear they've already got away. Regardless, we've done our job so there's no point in sticking around and burning to death." And my eyes are stinging like hell the young hedgehog amended inwardly. Besides, most of his 'warriors' were adolescents looking for some glory (for the usual reasons). Of course, it had been surprisingly hard to gather their assistance, as the new changes in his appearance had alarmed and upset several of his friends, something which swiftly grew tiresome. Many of his 'friends' had disregarded his call for help, while others had only been persuaded when he said he'd simply dyed his fur. The whole thing left him with twelve adolescents, most of whom weren't likely to back him up if he got caught.

It took the two of them a few minutes to gather the fellows and several more to navigate their way out of the fire. Another ten minutes and they were clear of the fires and made their way directly towards the horde that was undulating into position. The last thing the hedgehog wanted to do was report that the echidnas had left before the fires had started, at least not personally, so he sent one of his team, specifically a slightly older rat to keep the chieftain up to date and to stall him for the time he needed.

"Let's get back home before our 'glorious chief' chooses to make an example of us."

Asthesian and his group were about halfway back when they heard a blood curdling scream behind them.

He then spoke up in a cheery, slightly high pitched voice "Well, let's hop to it then. We don't want to be seen until we're..." his sentence trailed away quickly to as he saw a group of echidnas trying to sneak out the city. It took him a second for him to yell "Intruders!" and then he charged, his team following almost immediately afterwards.

The echidnas were so shocked by the mobian's collective war cry that they were unable to react until Asthesian and his group were practically on top of them. However, the few moments that the echidnas had were enough for them to snap off at least one shot from their weapons before the, cutting down half of Asthesian's team before the battle was even engaged. The rest crashed into the echidnas, spears levelled.

The violet hedgehog ducked his head as the echidna he'd ran through raised his weapons and fired a muted shot past him as he twisted his spear and wrenched it out. The few un-impaled echidnas were now seeking to flank the mobians, which irritated the young hedgehog immensely. He was about to lob his spear at them when a red shape collided with him, smashing its fist into his face and snapping his jaw like balsa.

Asthesian staggered back, slurring curses and shaking his head to get rid of the spots on his vision. Now that he got a look at the assailant he could see it was a small red echidna, and that it was charging at him again, screaming shrilly. This time, he was ready, and he ducked beneath its attack and raised the point of his spear, scraping a gash across his diminutive attacker's chest. The creature shrieked in shock and clutched its wound as it landed, allowing the hedgehog to check up on his friends. The echidnas were now on the ropes, as many of the mobians were either holding their impaled victims before them as organic shields, or, in the case of two particularly enterprising warriors, seized the echidna's weapons and firing them in the general direction of their makers. Not many rounds hit, most going wide and taking chunks out of the buildings behind their targets, but the few that did took the lightly armoured echidnas down.

Confident his associates could prevail he turned his attention back to the young warrior, who, he noted as it struggled to its feet, was somewhat mutated, as the forefinger and pinky of its hands were mutated back into evil looking talons. He raised his hand to his face to check, and noted that in addition to his jaw being broken, his cheek was indeed sporting some deep gashes, giving him some spare air holes.

"You, ugh..." He stopped as the movement in his jaw sent pain lancing through his head. "You'll su''er for tha' brat!" With this he charged in even as the creature sprang towards him.

He repeated the same attack method as he had before, but this time the child grabbed his spear and twisted with sufficient force to snap the wooden pole in two. As the mutated echidna landed it cast its length of the broken spear away and charged again, apparently eager to press its advantage. This time, however, the mobian hedgehog didn't duck. Instead he tightened his grip on his broken spear and brushed the child's attack aside, forcing the bloody furred echidna off balance. Asthesian then drove the splintered end of the spear into its gut, then upward, aiming for the vital organs. Asthesian got a face full of blood as the echidna coughed wetly, its lungs pierced. The two of them remained as close as lovers for an instant, before the mobian twisted his spear and yanked it free. He then looked around to see that his troops had eliminated the remaining intruders and were looting the bodies. He was about to join them when Swined gave a yelp of shock, causing the purple furred hedgehog to investigated.

"Asth, look." The pig said as he held up the glowing green gem for him to see.

"Tha's why they were 'ere." It made sense, since they were the only ones who could do anything with it besides himself, but he'd die before he mentioned that explicitly to anyone.

"Hey, look out!" They both turned their heads to see who called out, a brown and ginger striped cat who was pointing in the direction of the main force of mobian warriors who had almost caught up to them during the fray.

"Ah, crap." The hedgehog's porcine friend said grimly

It didn't take them long to explain what happened. Due to Asthesians broken jaw he was forced leave the explaining to his friends, although, thankfully they offered a reasonable amount of credit to him. On the whole the chieftains fury was mollified by their handling of the intruders.

"I'll forgive your desertion since you recovered the chaos emerald, but that leaves nearly a hundred echidna unaccounted for." The chieftain paused. "Although this doesn't warrant a war, we should at least make sure that that probing force doesn't make it home." With this the elderly dog turned to one of his aides "Send messengers to our allies; tell them the echidnas are not to be trusted. I also want trackers to follow the enemy force and the rest of the army to prepare to march. We'll make sure none of them survive to inform their people of the emeralds location." He then turned to Asthesian again. "I want you and your band to join our forces... after you get yourselves cleaned up." The old dog said, wrinkling his nose at their bloody and muddy forms.

Asthesian looked back at the remains of his victory, remembering the child. He was surprised the kid had been there, but not as surprised as he was when he discovered that he didn't care about her death. He didn't wonder about this for long, since he had to get back and get his face stitched up, and it had only been and echidna. He turned and began heading home, missing the young echidna's hand clutch at the dirt.

_And here's the last chapter of Radiant Mobius for a while. Sorry about the downer note for the echidnas. I've left many unanswered questions open, so I can follow them in the Dreaming Mobius story. You'll notice that I've made Sonic's ultimate ancestor something of a bastard. I'm afraid that's because I don't believe that the truly great ever get there by being nice. Unless they have honest to god superpowers._

_I'd also like to apologise for the lateness of this chapter. I've been focusing on work and haven't really had time to write as much as I used to._


End file.
